Little Mouse
by Stitchpuppy01
Summary: He is a predator, skillful, ruthless, and twisted. So why is it he cannot kill this one little mouse?
1. Glare

***Disclaimer* Even though Gaara is so badass, I can't and don't own him. That goes for the rest of Naruto's characters as well. **

**Glare**

**1**

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"Garbage." muttered Gaara hoarsely under his breath. "All garbage." Kankuro didn't seem to hear him, but Temari, the only person who ever really came within 2 feet of Gaara, heard him loud and clear. Her eyes, glistening like blue opals and wracked with nervousness, scanned to where her little brother was looking.

The three of them were in the streets of Kohana, idly and quietly standing by an ally next to a place called Ichiraku's Ramen Shop. People stared every once in a while, but quickly hurried on their way after receiving a murderous death glare from a certain fiery red head.

Gaara was glaring at the busy people in Kohana, shopping, working, talking, kids playing and laughing. It made him almost physically ill, and eager to constrict, to kill. How easily thoughts of homicide came to him. Like breathing. Like blinking. It was a part of his nature. And his nature…was twisted.

Temari picked up on his meaning and unconsciously took a step to the side, almost brushing against Kankuro, who was leaning up against a near-bye fence looking bored. He barely noticed, but mumbled a "watch it" and shifted his position slightly. Temari and Kankuro were always quiet and careful when they were around Gaara, afraid that

any little thing could set him off. To them he was like a walking time bomb, even though they knew that Gaara's personality wasn't as spontaneous than that.

"Three large bowls, please, and with extra pork!" a loud and obnoxious voice called enthusiastically from nearby. It was a spiky haired blond boy with a wide grin and an equally obnoxious orange outfit on. He sat down with an utmost satisfied look after being received with a "Right away, be right back!" Next to him, a petite girl about his age with short raven hair and strange foggy eyes nearly fell off her seat after letting out a high pitched squeak.

Her reaction caught the attention of both Gaara and the blond haired boy. Gaara raised the skin above his right eye where his eyebrow was supposed to be and narrowed his eyes. He had been observing every moving object within his peripherals and yet he had not noticed this girl sitting damn near next to him.

_How long has she been there?_

On the other side of him his siblings started talking to each other, Kankuro complaining about arriving to the Leaf village too early. Gaara couldn't have cared less. They had traveled far from the Sand Village to partake in the upcoming chunnin exams and now he had plenty of time to scope out the competition. Or rather, the weakest and the _strongest _of the Kohana heard.

"Oi! Hey, Hinata!" greeted the blond haired kid over enthusiastically.

_So the strange eyed girl is called Hinata…?_

"N-N-Naruto!" she exclaimed clutching her hand to her chest in an attempt to catch her breath. "H-Hello!"

"Wow! I hadn't even noticed you there! How have you been?" he grinned happily. Hinata turned only slightly to hide a shade of pink on her cheeks and replied "F-Fine. How about you?" She tried to lift her eyes to look at him in an absurdly difficult attempt as she pinched her two forefingers together nervously over her lap.

"Oh, well, y'know." Naruto explained, his voice suddenly down. His eyes turned to the back of the restaurant as if staring would make the food come faster. "That Jerk Sasuke thinks he's _so hot_." The last of his words were caked in disgust. "As if everything he does is _perfect _and he's so much _better_ than me at everything. You should see the way he shows off! It really gets on my nerves. I'm tired of that idiot always trying to make me look bad! He does it on purpose I tell ya!" Hinata smiled faintly as she let the blond ramble on. And on. Hinata was a very patient person, and if it was anyone else they'd probably tell him to shut up. Or beat him into silence. Something one of his team mates would do. Especially Sakura.

But Hinata was infatuated with Naruto, almost obsessed (not that she would ever call it that), and she listened to everything he had to say with contented interest. She was just ecstatic that he was talking to her. And alone at his favorite ramen shop! It was almost like a…a…!

Hinata cupped her face in her hands and lowered her head while turning completely around. Gaara had a clear view of her face now, and it was almost thoroughly red. He stared through narrowed slits as he silently observed Hinata. He wasn't aware that a persons face could actually turn colors like that. He had seen it before in his sister's face when she was mad about something or yelling at Kankuro. He had also seen it a few times in the faces of his victims before he crushed them to death. But he had always wrote it off as a physical reaction to _fear_. Begging for their lives, struggling, pleading, choking, gasping for their last breath…

The thought made him grit his teeth with pleasure. But this girl…she didn't _look _like she was frightened or angry. And it seemed like she hadn't even noticed he was there. This girl was very _strange_.

Naruto had continued to ramble while Hinata was almost hyperventilating at the thought of her own imagination. It was only until the waiter placed 3 huge steaming bowls of ramen in front of Naruto's face that all her one-sided awkwardness swiftly dissipated. "There ya go!" the waiter boomed and turned his attention to the customer that had just arrived at the far left of the shop.

Naruto inhaled the hot steam radiating off of the noodles and grinned like an idiot, all negative thoughts and emotions fleeing his face as he yelled his thanks and began slurping his food down immediately.

That, however, didn't stop him from talking. Hinata glanced at her empty bowl that had been sitting there almost 5 minutes before Naruto arrived and decided that she wouldn't order another one. She would just listen to him talk.

Incidentally, a glimpse of red caught her attention and she turned to her right. There was a boy standing a few feet away form her, arms crossed and eyes boring straight into her face. His hair was the color of blood and he had an impossibly large gourd strapped to his back. His figure was turned straight ahead of him but he stared at her from the side, his eyes dangerously homicidal. Hinata's eyes went wide, her entire body recoiled by itself and a small gasp escaped her lips. Had he been staring at her the whole time? The thought shook her spine.

A silent snort escaped his nostrils as his lips pulled up to reveal a devilishly murderous grin, obviously amused at her reaction. Hinata's head turned reflexively to the side to look at Naruto who was apparently still talking to her with his mouth full, chewing in between loud slurps. It seems he hadn't even noticed her reaction to Gaara's presence. He could be so oblivious.

Which is why he had not noticed his two team mates walking down the street behind them. Sakura, a bright girl from the academy with bubble gum colored hair was chatting to Sasuke, a spiky raven haired stoic avenger who walked in front of her looking bored and uninterested like always. Sakura didn't seem to mind as she continued to prattle on happily. It was only until she noticed Naruto that she was pulled out of her one sided conversation and stopped walking. Her hand absentmindedly grabbed the back of Sasuke's shirt to stop him from walking as she pointed and shouted in Hinata's direction.

"There he is!" she exclaimed with an annoyed look on her face. Sasuke turned to see Naruto the same time he seemed to turn around to catch sight of them. "Oh!" he started to talk but choked on the ramen that was still hanging from his mouth. He quickly slurped it up and wiped the juice from his mouth with his sleeve and smiled at them. Hinata noticed it was a smile directed only at Sakura.

"Sakuraaa!" He greeted, waving energetically toward them. "You were looking for me?" his teeth gleamed as he grinned to himself, a slight shade of pink forming on his cheeks.

Hinata frowned. Disappointment gripped at her chest along with despair and a flash of loneliness. Love was a complicated and irrational thing. And strong…and more likely to backfire than not.

A similar look seemed to cross Sakura's face as Sasuke brushed off her hand of his shirt almost as naturally as she had grabbed onto it. She tip toed behind him as he stalked over to Naruto with a bothered expression on his face. " Idiot." he muttered under his breath. Naruto's happy grin turned defensive as Sasuke approached him.

"Hey, Stupid. Are you aware that we had a meeting today with Kakkashi? He sent us out to look for you this morning. I should have known you'd be here pigging your way through all the shop's food." Naruto's fists slammed down on the table rattling the empty bowls around him and drawing the attention of the shop's clients. Even Temari and Kankuro were pulled from their conversation, which had over time become idle chit chat.

Gaara stared silently at the group surrounding the ramen shop with little interest. He observed that they were all ninjas of Kohana by the looks of their headbands. Gaara scoffed inwardly. As if children such as _these_ could be ninja. The only one who looked _close_ to being a ninja was the black haired stoic boy with a scowl on his face.

The blond one bickered loudly at the black-haired ninja. The pink-haired girl (and it was his first time seeing pink hair on anybody ever) shouted and scolded the loud blond boy who, after a few seconds of some pathetic insults and useless quarreling, wound up being dragged away by the two of them.

"Hey!" shouted the waiter of the ramen shop. The idiot blond had forgotten to pay his bill. "U-um! It's okay!" called Hinata frantically trying to catch his attention. "I can pay for everything. For mine too." Generous. Very. Gaara just would have killed the blond ninja and the shop owner.

Hinata pulled a shiny blue wallet from her overly baggy jacket and grabbed the amount she saw on the two bills the waiter placed in front of her. She gave it to him and he gave his thanks as he cheerily took the four empty bowls and carried them to the back. After putting the wallet back in her jacket she hopped off her seat and hurried away.

Gaara stared ahead of him, apparently uninterested in her hurry to get away, but a satisfied feeling built up in his chest as he noticed that not once had the fear he'd inflicted upon her been diluted the whole time he was standing there.


	2. Beg

Beg

2

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Hinata sat quietly on a bench to the far side of a road which was now becoming empty. It was getting late and it had been hours since Naruto had been dragged off by Sasuke and Sakura. Mostly Sakura. She hoped that everything had turned out all right and that he hadn't gotten into too much trouble. She worried about him a lot, sometimes so much so that she seriously considered running off to visually confirm her beliefs. He was never within the range of her Byakugan, a blood line trait passed to the members of the Huuga clan by birth, so she found herself constantly straining her abilities even though she knew all attempts were useless.

No matter how desperate she became, however, would she never abandon her team mates, Kiba and Shino. Not that it made much of a difference. Nothing she did never seemed to lead to improvement. Hinata viewed herself as mentally and physically incapable of being a ninja. As did a few others.

All the while her cousin, Neji Huuga, was getting stronger all the time. Naturally gifted. A genius. The true heir to the Huuga clan in another time line, she was sure of it, and yet he had been burdened with the duty of being her _protector_. Just because her father was born a few seconds earlier than her uncle, Neji's father, who was now dead. How absurd. How utterly absurd.

_Why? _She always found herself asking. _Why me? I'm not special at all…maybe…if I died…my sister could be the heir instead…and Neji-niisan wouldn't have to protect anyone anymore. He could be free. _

Suddenly Hinata's mind flashed back to the red-headed boy from earlier. How…murderous he'd looked. Hinata shivered violently at the thought of him, but only for a second. Did he always look at people like that? Hinata couldn't help but wonder.

"Hinata." a low, hoarse voice called. She looked up and almost yelped in surprise as the fiery red head glared at her. For a ridiculous second she thought he'd come out of her thoughts but she quickly composed herself. Had he been following her? And he called her by her name. Did he know her? He stared at her, eyes boring into her skull. It was much worse when he was looking directly at her, his whole body facing forward, attention directed fully at her.

His arms were crossed and his stance was almost perfectly vertical. No slouch at all. He probably had to practice perfect balance because of the gourd on his back. If not it would have messed up his spine. He looked at her, bored, as if thinking of something to say. She fidgeted in her seat, extremely uncomfortable, fear rattling each individual disk in her spine. She fought to control herself. He took a step forward shattering all attempts she was struggling for.

"Do you…" he began softly, as if trying to pick his words carefully. His voice, no matter how quiet, could never retain any source of friendliness, although an obvious trace of patience could be found in each syllable.

"enjoy being alive?"

His question had taken Hinata completely off guard. Was this a death threat or was he really trying to extract a serious answer out of her? She couldn't tell, but he waited a few seconds as if waiting for an actual reply.

"Wh-who are you?" Hinata struggled to reach for the right words but this was all she could come up with.

"Why?" he asked looking oblivious, his voice hard. "Why do you…fear me?"

Hinata just looked at him. She didn't know what to say. Deep down she knew she was a coward, a characteristic completely unfit for a ninja, but there was just something about him…

"Do you…" he began, his voice on edge and a bit more serious.

"_want _me to make you fear me?"

In the next second his hand stretched forward as an invisible force popped the cork from his gourd. On instinct Hinata jumped from the bench she had been nervously clutching at as it crushed completely under the impact of a constricting stream of golden sand. It took Hinata a short while before she fully realized that the sand had came from the gourd on his back.

_He controls sand…_

She had never seen anything like it before. He could actually manipulate sand, bend it and move it to his will. Hinata had always had an abnormal sense of smell when she was younger. No where near as keen as her dog friend Kiba of course, but she could smell blood radiating off of that sand. Wafts of it. It smelled of iron and rust…It was so strong that she could have sworn she saw traces of red in the sand.

_How many people…?_

Hinata's thoughts trailed off to a dark place. That sand was a shifting graveyard. Would she become one of those people…? Would she die today? If she did…would anyone notice? Certainly not Neji, not Father… in fact he'd probably be _happy._ She was being dragged into a void of spiraling depression as she thought of Naruto. Would Naruto…? Probably not. No…definitely not. As much as she admired him, idolized him, loved him…he hardly ever knew she existed. But that was the fault of her own cowardice. Kiba and Shino could find a new team mate with no problem. They hadn't even been together that long. Hardly a few months.

So when it all came down to it…nobody would miss her.

The whole time she was swiftly trying to dodge the waves of sand that came rushing after her. One attack after another. Her jacket was torn across the shoulder blade and she'd received a few cuts on her cheek and legs. She hardly noticed. The adrenaline kept her moving, kept her from deaths clutches for seconds at a time, a surrender looking better and better each moment. She didn't have time to think about it before a wave of sand came from under her twisting her ankle leaving her to the mercy of a second wave of sand that twisted around her entire body clutching her into submission.

This was it. She couldn't move anymore. Any attempts she could think of for escape were useless.

She gasped for air that was slowly escaping her with each grip of pressure that the sand inflicted upon her body, crushing her. Her eyes struggled to get a view of the fire haired boy who stared at her menacingly. His arms were at his side as he stepped forward. He lowered her body from the air so that she was a little above eye level. He continued to stare patiently as if waiting for an answer of some sort.

"Beg." he grumbled harshly.

Hinata just stared at him with her left eye, the other one wincing in pain.

""Why don't you beg?" he demanded. His voice was getting louder and more impatient. "Beg for your life!"

What was _wrong_ with him? Is this how he got his kicks out of life? What kind of sick individual _is_ this? He wanted her to _beg_? For _what_? Her _life_? Hinata was quiet for a moment as she thought. Both her eyes opened as she looked at Gaara. The color was drained form her face. Trickles of blood ran down the cuts on her cheek. Breathing was becoming harder and harder…and more painful. Words escaped her. She felt like she was drowning.

She dug deep within her mind fishing for something…anything that she could think of that might save her life…if that's what you wanted to call it. Air came out in uneven wisps, consciousness was beginning to leave her, and her throat was steadily becoming dryer.

"Why are you alive? What is your purpose?" he demanded desperately. " What is the point of your existence?" Hinata struggled to speak.

"I don't know." she looked at him with a mournful apologetic expression. He gaped at her in surprise but quickly recovered. "Why…are any of us alive? Why…are _you_ alive?" Hinata, knowing clearly that she didn't have anything to lose, spoke her mind freely; for the first time ever. "I-If you want to kill me," she said, grunting in pain, "then please do it. There has ever only been one reason for my existence on this planet and he hardly even knows I'm alive. I-If you think that killing me will slake your insatiable lust for killing…then I accept without complaint. It will be the first use…I-I have ever been."

She was almost certain that he was going to kill her right then. He could have easily thought that she was challenging him…maybe she was…but death did not come. Instead he stared at her. His expression was hard to decipher. He wasn't angry, he wasn't surprised…he was…thoughtful?

The sand flew from around her body and retreated back into his gourd. The cork, that had disappeared into nowhere only a few minutes ago, had suddenly reappeared into his hand as he popped it back into place. "Uh…" Hinata's body shivered as she gasped for air. Her arms clutched at her sides and she stared at Gaara who's arms hung stiffly in the air. His face was hidden by a shadow that the setting sun created as his chin tilted downwards. His foot slowly pivoted sideways as he turned to walk away.

"This sand…aches for the blood of _warriors_. You are not worthy." he explained calmly as he walked away. " I will give you three days. Three days to figure out why you are alive. If you cannot give me an answer on the third day…_I will kill you_."

His words were so final. He sounded so certain. So sure of himself. Hinata closed her eyes relieved that he had left. It gave her some time to think. She looked at the bench that lay in ruins…small traces of sand had been left behind on the grass. It only took a few minutes for her to come to a conclusion. It shouldn't even have taken her that long, for the answer was obvious…clear as day. She would die in three days because she was positive…something she should have known all along but had only been brought to her attention this second…

She'd never give him an answer because…there was no reason for her existence.


	3. Pathetic

Pathetic

3

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She'd come home late that day. If it was anyone else such as Neji or Hanabi, her little sister, than they would have been punished or scolded. No one barely even notice her walk in the door. Only a few guards were walking around as usual. It was only bad luck that when coming around the corner Neji happened to be standing there. He looked surprised when she came out of nowhere. Hinata, who usually would have squeaked in fear upon such an unexpected encounter, just looked at him tiredly.

This also occurred to Neji and it made him curious. "Hinata-sama…" he began. "You are quite late today." His expression portrayed nothing as usual.

"I was…" Hinata absent mindedly stroked the cut on her cheek, "training." She gave a faint smile. Neji stared at her and now that he actually examined her he saw that she did indeed had markings all over her body. Scratches on her face and on her arms where the sleeves were torn. There were bruises on her knees and legs and even her ankle seemed to be swollen to quite an extent.

But there was something strange about the markings. They were rough and rigid like she had scraped herself in the dirt. And parts of her skin were blue and purple as if someone or something had gripped her pretty harshly.

Neji was thoughtful, but just wrote it off as some knew kind of training. Certainly not with her team mates, though. An emotion he couldn't readily identify stirred in his chest, making him wrinkle his forehead.

_Who else does she know…?_ he wondered.

"You look tired, Hinata-sama." He stepped forward and began making his way past her. "Get some rest."

The last of his words were smug. He didn't care about her health and Hinata knew it. It was all part of his duty. To _act_ like he cared. But that was okay. It was still nice to hear _some_ form of concern every once in a while, even if it was a lie.

After cleaning up and applying some home made ointment to her wounds, she plopped down lying face up on her bed.

_Three days…_

There were three days left until she died and she didn't know how to feel about it. She supposed she should feel scared…sad…and she did, but not to the extent she should have. What to do? Wait? Go to someone for help…? Who? _Daddy_? She smiled bitterly.

She and her teammates had a mission tomorrow morning to help prepare for the up coming chunnin exams. The fear she felt after being told the three of them would be participating in the exams was nothing compared to the fear she'd felt this afternoon.

What a pathetic, cowardly ninja she was.

_Naruto…_

If only she could be a little bit more like Naruto than everything would be fine. And stronger. Being stronger would be nice. Hinata rolled over to the side and closed her eyes. Three days…for the next three days Hinata would be testing herself. Training, fighting, strategizing. And when she was satisfied, she would show Naruto. If only she could do that than nothing else would matter. She would welcome death with open arms.

Yes. Tomorrow…she would begin her test tomorrow.

Gaara wandered the village looking for his for his foolish siblings. They had run off somewhere while he was meditating. Only hours ago they were given papers with guidelines on the upcoming chunnin exams which he had skimmed through without much caring. It's not like he really cared about it as long as he could work around them and actually _kill _somebody. Luckily there were plenty of opportunities for that even without loop holes. He smirked inwardly. If Gaara wasn't careful the adrenaline might take over and _he_ would come out.

It was all so…_exciting. _

The chunnin exams were only a few weeks away, but that was a _very_ long time. Especially since he didn't sleep. Gaara's feet slowly came to a stop. People in the streets slowed, looking at him, but kept on walking. Something had suddenly occurred to Gaara. He had almost forgotten…there was a little _mouse_ running around that he had made a promise to yesterday.

Oh yes. The pearly eyed petite girl. He hadn't followed her right away after she'dleft the ramen shop, but he knew everything she did and everywhere she went with the help of his third eye. When it finally seemed that there was no one around he'd finally decided to confront her.

But why?

The answer was obvious. Her blatant _fear _of him. They way she lookedat him when she'd finally figured out that he had been staring at her…he chuckled darkly under his breath.

How typical. Pathetic girl.

He started walking again. He wondered where she was, who she was, what she was doing…not that any of it mattered. Despite any answer she gave him, within the next two days, she would be dead. She needed to die. Such a pathetic existence. In fact, she was probably shaking under a rock somewhere too scared to scream for help. Before he killed her he'd let the fear build up within her, almost to the point of insanity, and watch her pant and crawl through the last hours of her life in mental agony. He'd only known too much of that pain from his own life and it would give him utmost satisfaction to see it on the face of another.

In fact…why not kill her right now? What difference would it make? There were always others. He wanted to feel alive _now_. He wouldn't know how _alive _he would feel after killing someone so insignificant, but any feeling at all would subdue the swelling thirst of blood that began to ache in his chest. How easily he became excited.

But where was she? It was still early in the morning and teams usually went for missions or started training this early. Surely she couldn't have a day off today because she was at the ramen shop yesterday.

Gaara narrowed his eyes in consideration. _Training grounds…_


	4. Mouse

Mouse

4

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Gaara veered off to the right of town where he thought he remembered seeing the training grounds. Some days ago when he and his sibling's had first arrived in Kohana, there had been a guide there waiting to escort them around the village. Upon doing so they'd come upon the training grounds, and though Gaara was distracted the whole time with thoughts of murdering his escort for being obnoxious, he had deliberately taken mental note of it's location. He knew he'd have to remember the place if he was ever going to get a good look at the upcoming competition. Not that there was any who really qualified as competition.

The training grounds were huge. Not only were there miles of forest in which to exercise stealth and trap-setting, but there were also target sites set up within every half mile of the course. Finding the girl might prove to be somewhat of a challenge. Gaara sped through the area with amazing speed. He was certain almost no one caught site of him, except for maybe a few jonins, but they didn't really bother because they were too busy coaching their students.

He caught a quick glance of the blond ninja who he'd seen at the ramen shop yesterday. That bright carrot colored outfit wasn't easy to miss. His team was bickering as usual. What fools. More pathetic _prey_. But the other ninja, the stoic one who was outright ignoring the blond, jerked his head in the direction in which Gaara was moving. He probably didn't know who it was that he'd seen, but even so, he was of no importance at the moment. The only time he'd be worth paying attention to is during a match.

Along the way Gaara also caught site of a lazy looking ninja who lay sprawled out on the grass soaking up sun while another, a more corpulent ninja, was eating something out of a bag while sitting next to him. He thought he saw a girl there too, but he passed right over her.

The next squad ahead of him that he'd fully been intending to speed by without a second glance, actually caused him to come to a halt. There was a boy there…a boy with long smooth brown hair and overly pale skin who wore a cream colored jacket and dark shorts. Gaara thought he was Hinata for a second, because of his skin and foggy glass eyes, but he was indeed male.

An exact facsimile of Hinata. Her brother perhaps?

The boy was training with two other ninjas; one with strange round eyes and another with her hair done up in buns. Together he was sparring with the other boy. It was an impressive battle. Gaara observed the one who looked similar to Hinata the closest. There were veins popping out on either side of his eyes and his expression was hard--extremely focused--with an extraordinary amount of concentration in them. He'd never seen anything like it. The boy was also using a fighting technique that was unfamiliar to Gaara. That too, was very intriguing. Shots of blue chakra spewed from his palms each time he proceeded to strike, while the other nin contiued to dodge with an ungodly-like speed.

Gaara continued to observe from the trees for a few moments longer, then ran swiftly on his way.

When he'd finally found Hinata, Gaara was surprised to see she was alone. He was even more surprised to find that she was not cowering in fear like in his imagination. Instead she was practicing some sort of jutsu that he'd never seen before. Veins stretched through her skin on either side of her eyes, exactly like the other boys', and the amount of focus in them seemed to be just as intense. He could even _feel _the amount of chakra she was generating from her body.

The girl produced several quick hand signs, then stretched her arms out to her sides in a stance resembling that of a stilled propeller. Instantaneously her hands came up and began forming incredibly swift, clean movements that Gaara had never seen before. It was only a minute or two but Gaara was certain her arms had formed about 60 different paths of motion before a green metallic light began to form under her. The placement of her arms hinted that it was some kind of defensive technique.

But something went wrong. Her body convulsed, causing her to lean over, arms clutched at her side. The green light disappeared, and she fell to one knee, panting and gasping. Hinata allowed herself a seat on the soft grass, taking a short intermission to catch her breath. Just how long had she been practicing? Was this something she did every day or was it a recent developement in preperation for the chuunin exams? If that was the case, then it was unexpected. After their previous encounter Gaara hand't even expected her to venture out into the public.

Gaara noticed Hinata had a large bag with her containig shurikans and other weapons. There were small unmarked containers of what Gaara presumed to be a kind of medicine neatly organized on a nearby log next to her bag. Next to that was a half emptied bottle of water which she staggered over to and chugged with a decent amount of effort considering she was almost completely out of breath.

By the time her team mates came along she had fully collected herself. Hinata wiped the sweat off her face and applied the ointment where necessary. After everything was neat and packed away, a boy rushed to her side, calling out to her with a grin and happy gleam in his eyes. He wore a grey hooded jacket with too much fur which housed a small barking mutt. Following not too close behind him was a brown fuzzy haired ninja with dark round glasses and a calm, unmoving exterior.

"We knew you'd be here!" The dog boy said.

So she did come here often.

"Hello, Kiba," she greeted.  
_Kiba_ was his name.  
"And hello, Shino," Hinata called from over Kiba's shoulder.  
And the other one's name is _Shino_.  
Gaara was certain he could take the both of them on without much of a challenge. There was no immediate indication that there was anything extraordinary about them and even if there was, Gaara was certain it wouldn't make much difference.

"Kurenai had us looking for you," Shino said monotonously, his voice muffled behind his high collar. "It's time to head out."

_Head out where? _Gaara wondered_._

"I know," Hinata nodded. "I'm ready. I just wanted to do some early training." A few more words were exchanged and then the three of them took off. Gaara gave a small snort and headed in the opposite direction.

Originally he'd been looking for his stupid siblings. Who knows what they were doing by now?

As it just so happens, when Gaara found them Kankuro was picking on a small child while Temari just stood there, weakly pressing him to let go. Idiots. He had no choice but to intervene. They were wasting time.

Aside from the boy, Gaara saw that there were three other nin there as well. He recognized them immediately. They were the ninja from the ramen shop. Gaara found out that the raven haired ninja was named Sasuke Uchiha. Figures. Gaara knew he'd sensed something about him. The sole survivor of the Uchiha clan. Gaara had heard about the massacre a long time ago when he was in the Sand Village…and when his uncle was still alive.

The annoying blond haired Ninja was angered when Gaara had not asked for his name. Gaara had picked it up before but hadn't bothered to remember it. And didn't now. Those so insignificant do not deserve to have a name, much less be remembered.

Gaara and his siblings headed back to their sensei's residence not too long after. It was a temporary place to reside in the Leaf Village until the whole chunnin exam nonsense was over. However, Gaara realized that fighting the Uchiha would be something to look forward to. Maybe he'd even get to kill that obnoxious blond haired ninja--Naruto or whatever his name was.

When night--his favorite time of day--had finally descended, Gaara perched himsef ontop of the roof where he knew he would not be bothered. It was a perfect place and time to meditate. During this meditation Gaara took the time he needed to satiate the need for sleep--which has been he'd been deprived of ever since birth--by submerging himself in isolated quietness.

But there was something different tonight. Tonight he couldn't concentrate. There was a slight ping of excitement spurring in his chest, and he wondered why. Surely it couldn't be because of Hinata. A weak, white-eyed, discrace of a ninja. "Hinata..." Gaara whispered into the air. Strange that even though she was so insignificant--if not more so than the blond haired ninja--he'd memorized her name right away, and only through the acknowledgment of others. But that wasn't the most absurd part of it. The real absurdity was in the fact that he not only memorized her name, but also the names of her teamates, Kiba and Shino. _Why? _Hinata wasn't someone important. She was just another victim that he was going to kill within a few days. Someone weak…tivial…no bigger and no stronger than a mouse. A little white mouse.

The thought frustrated Gaara, putting him in a fouler mood than usual. Whenever he was having a bad day, Kankuro and Temari woud be the first ones aware of it. Baki noticed too, and so the three of them kept pace away from him unless it was absolutely necessary. The only act of intelligence they've ever displayed.

Every now and then the Shukkaku would inject an oppinion or two, trying to drive Gaara's patience to it's limits, and that was very dangerous. Not only for him, but for everyone that came within three feet of Gaara.

He was almost certain the Shukkaku had twisted his thoughts as they were now, but his voice was strangely absent, nowhere to be heard. Gaara wondered if maybe it was only himself he was torturing this time. His head...it was beginning to hurt. A familiar pain, but one he never got used to. This time, however, it was a little different. It wasn't particularly mind shattering as it usually was, but merely incomprehensible and aching, where as the other pain was sharp and relentless. Could this be what a _normal_ headache felt like?

Unconsciously Gaara raised a single hand to his head and gripped his forehead roughly. He had never given a second thought about the people he killed, so why now; especially when the girl was still alive? They were all _garbage_ to him. And yet this one little mouse…he had taken the liberty of learning her name, the name of her team mates, given her extra time to live, and after deciding to kill her shortly after _still _left her alive. _Why?_

Gaara's thoughts started coming to him in a rush.

The thing that was frustrating him the most was the throbbing persistent curiosity to want to know _more_ about her. Her last name, who her sensei was, who her family was, what school she went to…and even more stupid, insignificant things like her team number, her training schedule, and other ludacris things of that nature.

He sighed and dropped his hand onto his lap. A bitter smirk crossed his face. "Mouse…" he whispered roughly, devilishly. To think that this little white mouse could cause him so much confusion. And without intention. He hadn't even been aware of her existence until yesterday.

And even now she could train and talk freely with her friends as if she'd never met him. As if he didn't exist.

An unfamiliar…and unpleasant feeling stirred in his chest. _How dare she…_

She should be cowering in fear at this very moment; whimpering and shaking with anxiety--weeping--or at the very least begging someone for help. But she wasn't, and this bothered him greatly. It angered him.

Well…if she wasn't fully aware of his existence yet, she would be soon.


	5. What If

What If

5

//-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

Hinata, who was usually a patient and understanding person, sometimes found her missions to be a little…juvenile. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, only circumstances were different this time. Hinata only had two days left to live, and nobody knew it except her…and the red haired one. Gaara

Hinata had discovered his name through little research. The Huuga library was full of documents and articles that revolved around current issues happening in the world. There were even some dating back to her childhood, including the article about her uncle's--Neji's father--sacrificial death. Hinata took that particular news article and hid it deep inside a filing case full of outdated documents. Hopefully Neji would never have to look at it.

During her excavation Hinata had come across an article on Suna. There was no date or headline on it so Hinata figured it was never made public, but she didn't question it's existence since the Huugas were permitted to have such files in their midst.

The article elaborated on a number of killings that had occurred in the Village of the Sand. One was a citizen who had been heavily intoxicated the night he was killed and shortly after that a relative to the Kazekage. The article pinpointed a young boy as the culprit, but also explained that no charges were going to be made against him. Because he was the Kazekage's son. Hinata hadn't believed her eyes when she saw the picture of the boy in question. It was, without a doubt, a little Gaara. His eyes were narrow and cold like they are now, full of hatred and loathing, and even though it was only in black and white, Hinata could tell that there was a tremendous amount of despair in them.

A Huuga's eyesight misses nothing.

Hinata tried to push back the images and concentrate on her mission.

Her team had been assigned to a wealthy landlady whose cat whom she loved and adored like a child, had gone missing. Again. The description of the cat, which had been relayed through a procession of unintelligible broken sobs, said that it was grey and white with adorable blue eyes and a collar which had a genuine golden bell attached. If this was true, Hinata did not think that it was unlikely that someone had kidnapped the cat.

The landlady had said it happened before, only at the time the cat's collar was composed of diamonds, rubies, and gold. She figured it wouldn't happen again as long as the only flashy thing on the collar was gold.

Hinata sighed and shook her head. She was amused that a person could give so much love and attention to a mere animal, but also depressed that the cat's master gave it far better treatment than her own father. It almost made her angry at the cat for running away.

If indeed it wasn't kidnapped, that is.

Not wanting to jump to conclusions, Hinata headed over to the outdoor fish market in the central part of town. If she were cat that's the first place she'd go. Kiba was looking around in the wooded areas and Shino was poking around close to the landlady's home. Hinata was sure neither of them had checked the market yet.

On her way there Hinata peeked around corners and crannies, making sure not to miss a single spot. As she was about to round a corner to check an alleyway, her nose slammed into someone's forehead. She cringed back, cupping her face in her hands, squinting from the pain. She looked up to apologize and jumped back with a tiny, "Eek!"

Her whole face burst into flames.

"Ahh--owww--oh, h-hey, Hinata-chan," Naruto greeted, kneeling on the ground with one knee. He held his head with both hands and grinned at her wearily. "Haha, my bad. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"N-N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelped. She touched him! She had actually made contact with his skin! And right on his forehead! "I-I-I'm so sorry!"

"No problem, Hinata-chan. Did I hurt you?" Naruto asked with concern. He stood to his feet and brushed some dirt off his pant legs.

"N-No…" Hinata squeaked. "Wh-What are you doing here?"

"Oh, heheh. I was looking for something," Naruto replied. "In fact, could you help me?"

* * *

It was always a relief to be away from people. Gaara, though not particularly fond of nature, or the sun, or…daytime in general, found it to be exponentially more tolerable when alone. In the barricade of trees provided by the barren emptiness of the woods, Gaara was able to concentrate better than he ever could anywhere else in the hours of the day.

Gaara sat on a sturdy tree branch high above ground, mildly enjoying the comfort of cool shade. He was busy watching the sky, completely oblivious to anything happening below him until a faint rusting of leaves and the sharp snapping of twigs drew his attention elsewhere. When he looked down he saw something dark and fuzzy crawl out from underneath a bush.

Filthy animals.

The creature was bigger than Gaara thought, for the length of it's body continued to emerge from the bush as it resumed edging forward. A human-like grunt escaped it's form and Gaara realized it wasn't an animal, but a person. He recognized this person.

Kiba.

It was slightly amusing how well outskirts of the wild suited him so. But what was he doing here?

"Darn it, Akamaru!" he exclaimed, pulling the small dog from his jacket by the scruff of its neck. "I thought you said that stupid cat was here!"

The little white mutt gave a few apologetic whimpers and Kiba sighed. He rubbed the fur on it's head affectionately and said, "Ah well. Maybe it was only something that smelled like a cat. There ought to be plenty of wild ones running around out here. Maybe Shino and Hinata are having better luck than we are?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed when he heard Hinata's name. She was searching for something?

"I forgot what that stupid cat even looked like," Kiba said exasperatedly. The white mutt gave a few short barks in response. "Yeah, that stupid golden bell," Kiba remarked, seemingly understanding the puppy. Strange. "If that lady doesn't want the cat running off, she should stop smothering it."

The dog gave two loud barks.

"I do not smother you!" Kiba exclaimed in response.

This was getting annoying. The scruffy-headed boy and his puppy were beginning to argue and it was disturbing Gaara's quiet solitude.

He reached behind him and popped the cork on his gourd. Killing him seemed like the most convenient course of action. No one would find him right away. The wall of trees ought to provide a well enough shelter for a body. Someone would discover it soon, probably…

Something soft pawed at Gaara's raised arm. He looked up and saw a gray and white cat with a golden bell dangling from it's collar. It was perched on a thinner branch above him, staring with big green eyes, pawing at the cork in his hand. Kiba, still arguing with his annoying pet, made their way out of sight. Lucky. Gaara wrenched the cork back into place and glared at the feline.

* * *

Naruto sighed dramatically and plopped down on the soft grass. Hinata and he were at the park, both depressed at their failed attempts. Naruto and his team were on a mission as well, searching for some guy's lost dog. Naruto had recklessly made a bet with Sasuke stating that if he found the dog first, they would compete in a challenge of his choice, no matter how stupid it was. Naruto, of course, picked a ramen eating contest that Sasuke would have to pay for.

Hinata, who had been flustered and elusive the whole time, blushing and twiddling her fingers, stepped close to Naruto and looked at him shyly from the side.

"Gah! We'll never find these stupid animals!" Naruto cried in the air. "I bet they're off chasing each other and being stupid! This is whole thing is stupid! Why should a ninja like me have to deal with things like this?"

Naruto slumped against a tree with a sour look on his face, crossing his arms in a way that a sulking toddler would. After ages of inner debate, Hinata took a seat next to him. Not close. Just close enough to where she wouldn't faint. Which put a distance of at least three feet between them.

"U-Um…" Hinata began, not sure how to begin. The sky had grown dark and cloudy, looking for all the world like it was about to come pouring down. It was sunny only a moment ago, and the drastic change in weather reminded Hinata just how little time she had left.

"Yeah?" Naruto replied with a trace of sourness still coloring his tone.

"Um…i-if you had only three days left to live, what would you do?"

All bitterness and exasperation washed from Naruto's features. He spun to her with an incredulous look in his eyes. "If I had three days left to live? Why would you ask that?"

Hinata frowned and rested her hands over her lap, folding them over one another to keep them still. "I…well…i-it's just something I was wondering. It seems as if I…as if I were to die, I'd have nothing to show for it. I-I am weak. I have no spectacular talents. I have no kind of relationship with any of my family members. I was just…wondering what the best thing for me to do would be. I don't know how to…"

_Live. _

Naruto opened his eyes wide, staring so intently Hinata couldn't help but blush. There was sincerity and wonder in Naruto's expression, and he closed his mouth which had parted in surprise. "Hinata-chan…" he said. Hinata looked at him with her eyebrows drawn together. "I…would try to get as strong as I possibly could so I could beat that damn Sasuke!" Naruto declared expressively.

Hinata flinched back at his uncalled for energetic response.

"Well, what I mean to say is, I wouldn't spend all those days feeling sad. I would do and eat everything I've ever wanted and train and train until I just about dropped dead! Then I would challenge that cocky Sasuke-bastard to the match of his life! I might wind up losing, but at least I would give him the fight of his life! At the very least I would break his arm or something!"

Hinata stared at Naruto in a wonder. During some point he had jumped from his seat in all his excitement, clenching his fist to make emphasis.

"My point is, Hinata-chan, is that we don't know how long we'll live. I'm training everyday so that one day I can become strong! I'll become Hogake no matter what, and nothings gonna stop me! I'm going to try my best and keep working no matter what happens!"

Hinata's expression was nothing short of pure amazement. Her mouth relaxed into a radiant smile, surprising even Naruto, and Hinata rose from her seat. "I-I see," she said quietly. "Yes…you are right, Naruto-kun. Thank you." Hinata ran off without another word, leaving behind a confused Naruto, and smiled. "I have a mission to complete," Hinata whispered determinedly.

"And I'm going to accomplish it no matter what!"


	6. Strength

Strength

6

//------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

Hinata had an hour or so left before she and her team were to report back to one another. If they failed in their mission they would have to pick up with it tomorrow, but Hinata didn't want that. She imagined seeing the grief in the lady's face when being told they could not find her cat, and even though the whole thing was a bit silly, Hinata still could not bear seeing such a reaction because of her failed efforts.

The day was ending. The street lamps had not come on yet, for it wasn't time, but the clouds were thick in the sky, casting everything into near darkness even though the sun had not yet set.

Hinata decided to scour the roads one more, hoping to hear a tiny bell jingle somewhere. Her Byakugan wasn't really of much use in such darkness; she had to improve more before it could be that effective, and so she had to rely on hearing. It would be much easier since everyone had gone home early because of the weather.

Just as Hinata was deciding on whether or not to report to her team, she heard a small tinkling sound nearby. Her heart swelled with excitement and relief. She rushed forward, straining her ears, hoping to hear the sound again. She did. It was a low tinkling sound, unlike that of a bell made from silver or copper, and she was certain it was the cat's bell.

The sound came from a dead end alleyway. It was wide with lots of worn crates and chipped boards lying about. There was trash littered in all corners, but nothing that would have attracted a cat. Perhaps if there were mice hidden somewhere then the cat may have--

"I understand you have been looking for something," someone said from behind. Hinata whirled around, immediately recognizing the voice. It was dark, but she knew for a fact it was the him. Gaara.

Hinata said nothing. Gaara reached in his shirt slowly and pulled something out that tinkled and reflected off of some unknown light source.

The cat's bell.

Hinata's mouth dropped open, horrified. _No…_"Y-You…" Hinata stuttered.

The boy tucked the collar inside his shirt and said, "You seem upset. Why?" His voice was flat and unemotional, but there was curiosity there too.

"Why would you do this?" Hinata demanded with less fear than she thought possible. Right now anger was overlapping that feeling, and her form was beginning to tremble and shake with it.

"It is just a small creature; an insignificant pest. Why would someone care for something so worthless?" he continued. "Tell me why."

"No…" Hinata whispered, straining for control. "Not worthless…_not worthless_."

Gaara raised his head attentively, and with surprise.

"Not worthless!" Hinata cried. "E-Exactly what makes the cat worthless? Because it's small? Because it can't talk? Because it can't fight? Y-You think that because it's smaller and weaker that makes it insignificant? S-Selfishness. Arrogance. There is someone out there crying right now because it's missing, because she loved it very much…"

The boy narrowed his eyes. Hinata continued. "Doesn't that all by itself make it something of great value?"

Gaara snorted through his nostrils. "Words," he whispered coarsely, but with a certain pain in his voice. "Groundless unsubstantiated garbage. You say that because you yourself are _weak_."

"I am," Hinata agreed instantaneously. Gaara made a slight movement with his head that indicated surprise. "I am weak. I stutter, I am timid, I love far too easily, and I cannot hate anything. Still…that does not make me insignificant. I am not worthl--"

"Enough!" Gaara exclaimed roughly. "Enough of your ridiculous ramblings! You are weak! Therefore you are insignificant; not needed. You can be bought and you can be replaced. You are nothing but a doll. A tool. A thing. Exactly like I used to be. A small…helpless…little mouse. My prey."

The boy reached behind him with alarming speed and popped the cork from his gourd. "I am tired of waiting," he said roughly. "I am tired of waiting to kill you."

Large amounts of sand began pouring from his gourd, springing up around him as if it had a mind of it's own. "Please die."

Gaara drove his hand in a straight line and a thick trail of sand responded to the movement. It rushed forward as if wanting Hinata's blood for it's own, gaining speed at an incredible rate.

Hinata spread her feet apart, taking battle stance, and thrust her palm forward, meeting the tip of sand with a large spark of blue chakra. The line of sand exploded apart. In the Huuga fighting style the hand did not have to make contact to inflict great damage on the opponent, but when it did it was deadly.

"What!" Gaara exclaimed.

"You will not kill me," Hinata declared, ignoring the violent stinging in her palm. "Any life is worth fighting for. Even mine. I will become strong one day, just like Naruto-kun, and I will not surrender my life to you."

Hinata put her other foot forward, switching hands, and squared her shoulders defensively. "Defend yourself, Gaara of the Sand."

"So you would choose to fight…" he questioned in statement form, but with a slight trace of reverence. "Very well."

More sections of sand propelled forward at the boy's command, attacking Hinata from all sides, one by one, then multiple times per second.

Hinata whirled around to meet them all, countering each attack with a burst of chakra.

The Huuga fighting style used large concentrated amounts of chakra to cut off the flow from others, thus impairing their ability to use jutsus effectively. Hinata realized that it was nearly the same with Gaara's sand. Without the assistance of chakra, the sand would not be able to move at all, so cutting off it's flow was most nearly the same as cutting off the flow from the limbs of a person.

The only problem was that a human's limbs did not regenerate as sand does.

The attacks were relentless. They came one after another, in random processions and from all directions. Hinata was not sure she'd be able to keep up for very long.

A rush of sand shot underneath her legs and attacked her from the back, thrusting her into a wall. Hinata recovered as quickly as possible and dodged a mass of sand that slammed into the wall where she would have been hit, had not moved.

Hinata backed toward the street, making way for the mouth of the alleyway, and sent a tremendous wave of chakra at three intersecting masses of sand, causing them to explode apart. Hinata straightened her posture, preparing for an entirely different attack.

Gaara recognized the stance.

Hinata, exactly like before, produced several quick hand signs and sliced through the air with her palms, directing an alarming flash of incomprehensible movements with her arms.

At the end when the metallic green light appeared under her, Gaara rose both hands, uplifting an absolutely massive amount of sand into one thick element, and projected it toward Hinata. The sand mass split apart into dozens of different sections, attacking Hinata from all sides, but she blocked every single attack.

Hinata, though immensely proud that her defense mechanism was working, began to tire and lose control over her jutsu. Within a matter of seconds the whole thing disappeared, coming apart, and a wave of sand struck her in the stomach every bit as hard as a wrecking ball, and slammed her against a stack of wooden crates which exploded on contact.

Hinata tried to move, but was completely incapable.

She had put up the most impressive fight of her life…but still failed.

Everything was quiet for a while, and nothing could be heard except the crunching of splintered wood as Hinata made fruitless attempts to shift from her position.

Gaara approached her with slow and casual steps. He stopped in front of her and raised his hand toward the sky. A large section of sand responded, lifting into the air behind him, preparing to strike on command.

"You did well, mouse," the boy congratulated. "But not well enough. Now die."

Just then an ear-splitting crack of thunder erupted into the air. Both Hinata and her attacker were stunned. Only a split second after did rain start to hail from the sky, washing through the streets and the alleyway, rinsing the blood and dirt from Hinata's limp form.

She was doubly surprised to see the large section of sand floating in the air crumble and fall apart, dropping to the ground like…clumps of saturated sand.

The boy dropped his hand to his side, glaring up at the sky.

He stood that way for what seemed like ages, then looked down at Hinata. Slowly he took the cat's collar from his shirt an lowered it into her unmoving hand.

"One day," he said, walking away. "You have one more day."

Hinata watched him go, vision blurred by the heavy rain down-pouring onto the scene. Just as his silhouetted form made it's way to the mouth of the alley, the street lamps came on. He was no longer there.

Hinata let loose a shuddering breath of relief and fatigue.

Something soft and wet touched her stinging hand. It felt strangely comforting. She looked down and saw a small cat pawing at her damp skin. It stared at her expectantly with wide green eyes and meowed. Hinata gasped. The cat edged over to her jacket and crawled into it, sheltering itself from the rain.

The cat poked its head out of the top of the collar of her jacket and meowed, curling up against her body.

Hinata grasped the collar Gaara had lowered into her hand and fastened it onto the cat's neck, giving the golden bell a slight tap with her finger.

"So he can kill mice…" Hinata whispered with a weary smile, "but not kitties?"

**//***************************************//a note from moi//**************************************//**

**'Sup? This is Stitch, finally making an A/N.**

**Now I know the last two chapters have been short, but that's because they were originally one chapter. In fact, you could probably tell, but since I posted chapter 6 right away I don't think it was any big deal. (As a matter of fact, I promised my friend who loves this fic that I would post chapter 6 quickly if she signed up at a tetris website. Haha)**

**To the people supporting me thus far;**

**You kick ass.**

**I appreciate and love absolutely everything it is you have to say, so your reviews mean a lot to me.**

**Please keep supporting me no matter what.**


	7. Vow

Vow

7

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

Hinata was happy that the woman had gotten her cat back. The little thing was shivering and sopping wet by the time it made it's way into her arms, but that only made the landlady all the more grateful to Hinata for finding it. That was the easy part. The hard part was explaining the bruises on Hinata's body. There were marks all over her that was well enough covered by the thickness of her jacket, but the other ones, the cuts and scrapes on her face, neck, and hands, not to mention the slight limp in her walk, alarmed the rest of her team, Kurenai included.

Hinata tried her best to lie, but Shino knew better. He didn't say anything, but Hinata knew exactly what he was thinking. Kiba himself wouldn't stop flipping his lid. Even Akamaru seemed upset, but somehow Hinata managed to dodge all their questions without giving away too much information.

Hinata made sure that when she got home she'd dressed her wounds up enough to avoid the suspicion of anyone who might question her markings. It was only bad luck that before making it to her room she'd run into Neji.

"Hinata-sama," He greeted with a tint of surprise. "What happened?"

Hinata had been down this road before. And in the exact same situation, if she recalled correctly.

"H-Hard day of training," Hinata responded wearily. "W-Well, the mission was harder than we thought it would be, so…" Not completely a lie.

"Is that all?" Neji questioned in a way that sounded more like an interrogation.

"Y-Yes…" Hinata stammered. Uh-oh. Neji was calling her out. She should know better than to lie to her niisan. Even though they were no where near as close as they used to be, that fact remained that no one could read her better than he.

"Why are you lying to me, Hinata-sama? We've come across this situation once before, have we not? On the first occurrence it was not so much cause for alarm, since it was extremely likely that it was only a result from a new type of training, but now that it has happened again, I cannot so easily write it off. Exactly what have you been doing?"

Hinata hesitated, resisting the urge to fidget her fingers. She clutched the sides of her worn jacket in an effort to keep them still. "I…I'm sorry, niisan." Hinata apologized miserably. She could think of nothing else to say. It was hard looking Neji in the eyes, but she did, waiting for him to say something. He gave a quick overview of the bandages on her exposed wounds, and looked back into her eyes with solemnity. "If this happens again, Hinata-sama," he warned, "I will be forced to take matters into my own hands. May I remind you that I have a duty to uphold."

He walked past her towards the west wing of the manor where the entrance to the lower branch was located. "Good night, Hinata-sama." he bid.

The first thing Hinata woke up thinking was that it would be her last time waking up. Ever. It was the third day, the day that Gaara would kill her. The wounds from the previous night were still, for the most part, fresh and throbbing. The rest of her ached, and when she moved her ribs protested with sharp eruptions of pain. Still, she had to move. She had to fight.

For a shinobi, things like pain came only secondary to duty.

As she was redressing her wounds, Hinata thought about Neji's warning. Of course it proved fruitless since this would be the last day she'd be alive, but just in the off chance she survived, she knew she would have to tell him the truth. Hinata vowed that she would fight until the end, because her life was worth fighting for, and though she unwaveringly stood by that statement, she knew how much weaker she was than Gaara. Yes, she could fight, but she would lose. The sky was blue and bright today, so there would be no rain to save her this time.

However…Hinata had also made another vow.

A vow that she planned to follow through with no matter what. This vow, of course, would lesser her chances of surviving the encounter with Gaara to near zero levels, but this was the one that counted most. She would be faithful to it.

Hinata wandered the streets for a few hours, taking in the pleasant scenes of those shopping, smiling, and enjoying one another's company. The sunny weather seemed infectious amongst the Leaf Village inhabitants, and Hinata would have loved to join them in their blissful ignorance, but was sadly unable. Because she knew this would be her last time seeing any of this.

When she allowed herself to stray from the distraction, Hinata finally set out to look for Naruto seriously. He was always running around at this time of day, especially on his days off. When finally she'd found him he was by the school, sitting--unsurprisingly--next to Sakura, talking through smiles and happily chattering. Hinata wanted to turn in the opposite direction, find Gaara, and hope that he'd give her a quick death, but she resumed walking.

She'd made a vow.

Real warriors honor their vows.

"We both have the day off today, right Sakura-chan? You don't have anything planned either, right? Let's go somewhere together!"

_Ignore the pain. You're used to it. Keep walking…_

Sakura crossed her legs and turned her back to him sharply. "And what makes you think I wouldn't have better things to do, Naru-tard?" Sakura snapped.

"Well, I just thought that, since you were here and everything, you didn't have anything important to do and so--"

"I'm waiting for Sasuke! Go away!" Naruto's expression twisted into a sullen grimace.

"S-Sasuke? You're meeting him here?"

"It's none of your business! Didn't I already tell you to go away? Why did you even come here at all if you were going to start annoying me? You're so immature Naruto, just like a pathetic little kid. All you do is gripe and complain; "I want this!" "I want that!"; without ever giving a second thought as to how many problems your causing for other people. You have the thickest head of anyone I've ever met! You don't listen, you have _zero_," the words spurred out in a rough and mocking laugh, "common sense; you're just a pain to have around. Useless and hopeless. In fact, why don--"

"Why doesn't he 'what?'" Hinata interrupted coldly.

Sakura spun to her in alarm, having been caught giving such an outrageous fit, and Naruto, who was bowing his head in absolute shame and embarrassment, did the same.

Hinata stood in front of them, eyes boring unfriendliness and irritation. So unlike her, and yet at this point, she couldn't care less.

She was going to die today.

Might as well make her last day on earth worth something. And fortunately, it started here.

With this tactless, pink-haired bitch.

"E-Exactly which part of what you just said is true?" Hinata asked bitterly. "Exactly which part, do you think, makes you look more superior than you really are? Exactly what makes you think you have the r-right to talk to Naruto--to anyone--like that. With how you are."

"E-Excuse me?" Sakura stammered with shock and barely concealed rage.

"H-Hinata-chan?" Naruto stuttered, incredulous.

Hinata continued, ignoring them both.

"You, Sakura Haruno, wh-who has always been beautiful, always been adored, always been the smartest, always had a mother and father that loved you? You, who has been sheltered your entire life, t-taking things out on Naruto because you yourself have absolutely _zero_ common sense when it comes to the circumstances and f-feelings of others. I-It is easy for you to judge someone who you have never, not once in your life, have tried to relate to. There is nothing in your character that even suggests that you are, or are willing to be, understanding. Y-You, who has no idea what it's like to have no one, nothing. You, who has no idea what pain is. You, who has no idea what it's like to try hard to get what you want, to suffer for it, to work for something that you have been deprived of only because you are what you are. Because of wh-who you are. You, who has such astounding talents--looks, smarts, and family--and have all but ignored them just because of a boy who doesn't even care enough about you to look in your direction. So tell me, Sakura Haruno, exactly what, do you think, makes you a better person than Naruto?"

Hinata was calm with her words, putting strength into each syllable, each meaning. Never had her voice been so dangerous, and yet so subtle. For the first time in her life she was not careful with her words. She allowed her feelings to speak for her, something she'd always wanted to do ever since she was a child. She knew it was reckless, and in some form, heartless, but what did that matter now?

Hinata barely left time for silence to descend before continuing. "N-Naruto is a wonderful person," she went on, voice crushing into softer tones. "He is brave, determined, and the strongest person I have ever met. H-He has grown up with nothing, no one, and yet every day he is smiling. Why? I couldn never understand it…and I know I'm nowhere near as good a person as he is…but…I love that smile. I-It makes me so sad that you cannot see how lucky you are to have someone as pure as Naruto who is willing to look beyond each and every one of your flaws…and be with you. I…feel _sorry_ for you, Sakura. So sorry."

Never before had Hinata seen someone with so many emotions on her face as she did Sakura. Shocked, humiliated, confused, enraged…and utterly and bitterly _ashamed. _Not bothering to make a remark, or even try to defend herself, for she knew she was in no position, leaped from her seat and ran off. Hinata watched her go, still and sorrowful. But not regretful. Though the things she'd just said were harsh, Hinata could not find it in her heart to feel regretful for what she had said. Because they were the truth, and a long time coming. Sakura needed to know these things, and the sooner she learned them the better. Hinata only hoped, with all her heart, that Sakura would try to realize the mistakes she's made and try to change herself a little.

Not drastically; only a little, into a better person who would look at Naruto fondly. That's all she wanted. Because Hinata knew this would make him happiest.

"H-Hinata-chan?" Naruto said in a bewildered state. His eyes boggled, lips twitching to form unintelligible words, for he did not know what to say, and his expression was…awe-struck.

"A-Are you mad, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked gently, tilting her head slightly.

"No, I…it's just…"

He glanced at the ground, unable to process the correct expression. He was trying very hard to get a grip on his emotions, and when finally he'd smoothed his features into a somewhat sad look he stood to his feet and said, "H-Hinata-chan…did you really mean all those things you said?"

Hinata stared at him and smiled, a slight blush forming on her cheeks.

"Y-Yes. I did."

Naruto was silent for a while, seemingly conflicted, until finally he asked determinedly, "Do you want to take a walk with me, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata agreed, of course. They refrained from talking about Sakura as they walked, sharing a silent hope that she would get over herself, think about some things, and calm down. They didn't know it would happen soon, but they knew something about her would change tomorrow. Naruto seemed a bit worried, but for now he just pushed it to the back of his mind.

"I-I never knew you thought those things about me. I never knew anyone did," Naruto said quietly, keeping in step with Hinata who was currently a few inches in lead. There was a long winding dirt road leading them to a section of small hills and trees which basked in the pleasant light of the sun, giving off a wonderful atmosphere of tranquility.

"Y-You really didn't know those things yourself?" Hinata questioned with a smile. "I-I thought they were obvious."

Naruto stared at her, then turned away, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. He grinned the grin Hinata loved so much and said, "No…haha, I guess I didn't."

Hinata walked Naruto up the hills and beyond a thicket of trees where resided a wide open space. The trees provided a convenient enough barrier, a wall if you will, for anyone who happened to be walking by, and Naruto only noticed when she came to a halt.

Hinata turned to him, eyes hard and focused. Naruto drew back a little, surprised and confused.

"H-Hinata-chan…what're you doing?"

Yes…there was one more vow she had to uphold. One that had been determined from the beginning of their meeting but never set.

The vow…that she would prove her strength…to the one she loved.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said, spreading her feet apart, taking battle stance. "Fight me."

**//***********************************//note from moi//**********************************//**

**Yes, in case you haven't realized, this is actually a HinaXGaaXNaru fanfic. I've never done one which included Naruto, and this is one of my first. I am actually quite fond of Naruto, but Gaara has always been my favorite. After all, who wouldn't love Gaara?**

**And as to who Hinata will wind up with in the end…**

**Let us wait and see.**

**To those of you who have reviewed, thank you so very much. You are the ones that have shaped this story, not me, and I wish for you to continue to nurture your unwavering affection for my story. **

**I love everything it is you have to say, even if it's negative, so please keep reviewing.**

**Please keep supporting me no matter what.**


	8. Confrontation of Three

Confrontation of Three

8

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

"H-Hinata-chan, why are you doing this all of a sudden?" Naruto stammered in alarm. What had gotten into her? To Naruto Hinata had always been weird, but this went far beyond anything he'd have ever expected. He didn't know what to make of things, but what he did know was that he didn't want to fight Hinata. She didn't seem like a strong person, and even though he wasn't that strong either, he was certain that if they squared off he would…hurt her.

"I won't fight you, Hinata," Naruto said, trying to be stern, but failing. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You must, Naruto-kun," Hinata responded, Byakugan activated, unflinching in her battle stance. Never had Naruto seen Hinata like this. He didn't know what she was doing with her eyes or what kind of fighting style this was, but there was something nagging at the back of his mind that told him he was wrong about the weak part.

There were things he didn't know at all about Hinata, including her status as a warrior, and though he was intrigued, he didn't want to discover things this way. "Hinata-chan, please…" Naruto begged. "L-Let's stop this. We don't have to--"

"Please defend yourself, Naruto-kun," she interrupted, her polite voice clashing with the fierceness in her expression. "Because whether or not you do, I'm coming."

She wasn't lying. Hinata sprang forward in one smooth leap, surprising Naruto with her speed, and thrust her palm at him. Naruto barely dodged the attack, but in the passing was shocked to see a spark of blue chakra shoot from her hand, creating a tiny split at the bottom of his jacket.

Naruto leaped back as a reflex and stared at Hinata with wide and attentive eyes. "Wh-What was that?" Naruto exclaimed.

"The Huuga fighting style is special," Hinata explained, once again taking battle stance. She sprang towards Naruto once more, palms lashing forward like the snap of a wolf's teeth. "We do not aim for our opponent's joints or outer body parts with the intention of causing surface damage," she continued, thrusting one attack after another, but purposely making it easy for Naruto to dodge.

"The body is a connected system of networking cables which work together, producing chakra, intensifying the amounts at the whim of it's master, and regulating flow. Huuga's take a precise and deadly concentrated amount of this chakra and sever the flow of others, rendering them utterly incapable of executing jutsu attacks."

Just then Hinata rammed her palm into the center of Naruto stomach, projecting him backwards into a tree. He hit the trunk with a loud thump and a sharp grunt of pain escaped his lips. Hinata did not shoot a blast of chakra at him to do this, but rather contained it, relying on her own strength.

She was…going easy on him.

"Please fight back, Naruto-kun," Hinata begged. "Please give me a good match. Use everything you've got against me. If you don't I'll never be able to show you…"

She trailed off, bowing her head towards the ground.

"Sh-Show me what?" Naruto asked with strain in his voice, lifting himself to his feet. Naruto couldn't believe what he was seeing--hearing. Hinata, this little…person, this quiet and shy girl, had so much power in her! Incredible.

Incredible.

"Show me what, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked once more.

"To show you…" Hinata spread her feet apart, once again taking stance. Her eyes were bright with the thrill of battle, and the thick veins bulging out on either side of them made her look fiercer than any ninja Naruto had ever seen. But her mouth curved upwards into a pleasant smile, reminding Naruto all too clearly of who this person still was.

This was Hinata.

"To show you how strong you've made me," she answered proudly.

"What?" Naruto asked incredulously. "What did I do? I never knew you could fight like this! I didn't do a thing!"

Hinata, smiling still, shook her head slowly and said, "No. You did a lot, Naruto-kun. In fact…you did everything."

Naruto didn't understand what she was saying, what she was thinking, but Hinata standing there, palms outstretched and shoulders erect, eyes sharp and focused and feet planted firmly upon the ground, was presenting herself to him as a warrior.

Something in his chest stirred, making it hard to breathe. Never before had he seen a girl act this way, talk this way…look this way.

Stunning.

"Fine," Naruto responded, matching her boldness. "I'll fight you, Hinata, but don't expect me to hold back!"

Hinata smiled wider this time, and gave a single understanding nod. This made her happy. Because this was exactly what she wanted. And even Naruto didn't have a full grasp of what was going on, it was all too clear that Hinata was making a serious attempt to bring out her potential, and through him. Not that she had to say these words for him to know this, for it was a mutual understanding between two warriors, and Hinata looked as if she felt the same.

No one had ever done anything like this before. Strong opponents like Sasuke and that spook Gaara had always ignored him. But…things weren't like that this time. This time there was someone who'd purposely sought him out, wanting to test their skills, and wanting him to test his.

This made Naruto…so incredibly happy.

So in return, he would do as Hinata wished. He would fight.

"Here I come!" Naruto shouted, and swiftly produced a hand sign. "Shadow clones!"

Several eruptions of smoke exploded in a circle around Naruto and five clones jumped forward for attack.

Hinata was ready. She lashed out at each clone with a blast of chakra, sending them into the air, reverting them back into white puffs of smoke, but Naruto was relentless with their production. One by one they came, sprinting forward furiously with fists ready to throw. He had indeed mastered the art of cloning. You'd never think that it was once his worst jutsu…

Hinata was proud.

But her insides where screaming with pain. The wounds from yesterday were not yet healed, and every movement took a tremendous amount of effort to execute. Her joints were sore, her ribs ached, and her legs were taut with pain. Her hands were bandaged with a thick layer of healing cream on them, making attacks less effective than they otherwise would have been, but still she would not give up. This was what she wanted, and even though it was hurting her, she could not find it in her heart to regret anything.

The choices in life she'd made thus far were hers, and though a good number of them were poor, these last days of her life had been nothing short of revolutionary for her. And even though it was impossible that she'd changed a great deal, there was a change in her that she was proud of.

But still, her muscles were beginning to tire and overexert themselves, making it impossible to bring out her full potential. Her Byakugan was wearing, becoming exhausted, and her limbs weren't responding as they should have.

Two Naruto clones lashed out at her at the same time, making contact with the area right beneath her ribs, and she went flying.

She hit the ground hard. The impact was staggering. Hinata gasped and shuddered, clutching her sides in muted agony.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto exclaimed in alarm.

Hinata was doubled over on the ground, gritting her teeth in pain, and Naruto ran over to her with a wildly concerned expression.

"Hinata-chan, what's wrong?" He rushed to her side, making an anxious reach for her trembling shoulders, but something stopped him.

A giant wall of sand exploded into view, curving forward like a wave, and shoved into Naruto's abdomen so fiercely that he went flying backwards. He hit the ground with a loud grunt of pain, and staggered to his knees, clutching his throbbing sides. "Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried. Completely ignoring the pain Hinata jumped to her feet to help him, but another eruption of sand blocked her, preventing her from advancing, and when the sand dispersed apart it was Gaara she saw standing there.

His back was to her and his arms were folded over one another in his usual calm and aloof posture. He seemed to be ignoring her, but at the very same time completely aware of her. Hinata felt that if she were to make a move of any kind Gaara would stop her.

But he only stared at Naruto. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked lowly, his voice quiet and rough.

Naruto grunted once more, trying to recover from both pain and shock, and when he looked up, drew back in alarm. His eyes boggled, wide and horrified, and even though Hinata was surprised by his reaction, she knew it was a reaction he would not have had if he'd never met Gaara before this moment.

Somehow or another they knew each other.

"Well?" Gaara pressed with impatience. It was the first time Hinata had ever heard him sound that way.

Naruto leaped to his feet. "I know you! You're that creepy guy we met the other day!"

Gaara took a step forward and Naruto rose his head in alert. "Leave." he ordered. "I have business with this girl and you're in the way."

Do it, Naruto-kun! Hinata's mind shouted on reflex. He'll kill you if you don't!

"N-Naruto-ku--"

"What do you want with Hinata-chan?" Naruto demanded angrily. As a threatening gesture he took a vicious step forward as well, jabbing his foot into the ground.

Gaara reached behind him in a movement Hinata found too familiar, and popped the cork on his gourd. "I'll tell you one more time," Gaara warned, tone sickeningly vile. Hinata imagined what his face looked like, twisted in a ferocious glare…"Get lost."

"I don't think so!" Naruto shouted. "There's no way I'm leaving Hinata-chan! If you're thinking about laying even one finger on her you got another thing coming!"

Hinata, though immensely horrified, found shame in the euphoric lurch in her chest. A pure second of joy rang through her entire being, and for a split moment she was tempted to smile, but the bitter reminder of reality shook her conscience when Gaara's voice cut through her ears.

"Very well," he said, tone resolved.

Sand started to pour out of his gourd, rising into the air as if completely exempt from the forces of gravity.

No! Hinata protested inwardly. She tried to choke out for Naruto to run, to save himself, for only she was scheduled to die today, but nothing came out. The searing pain in her body kept her from exerting the energy she needed to get up and move--to be of assistance. Move! Please move! Please! I have to help Naruto-kun!

Naruto called upon his shadow clones and sprang forward alongside them in a group.

Gaara lifted his hand in the air and gave it a single horizontal slice, sending a number of speeding sections of sand towards each one, and exterminated them all in one sweep.

Naruto's solid body went flying into a tree, snapping a few twigs as he landed amongst a cluster of firm branches, then fell to the ground.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried in horror.

"Is that the best you can do?" Gaara questioned without much caring.

Naruto staggered to his feet as quickly as he could. "I'm not giving up yet!" he replied determinedly.

Again he came for Gaara, face twisted in an angry scowl. "Naruto-kun. please!" Hinata begged. "Run away! Ru--" she stopped herself.

Run away….run away? Did she really think that was going to work? Hinata knew Naruto better than anyone on the planet. She'd watched him grow and train and become the person he is today, right now at this very moment. She knew more clearly than anyone he would never run. He'd much rather die…exactly like an honorable shinobi. And wasn't his example the one Hinata herself was following? Wasn't it that precise characteristic of Naruto's that kept her there, fighting even though she knew she would die?

Gaara did not have to move at all. Naruto kept coming at him, dodging one sand attack after another, but every now and then one would get him, slamming him back, but Naruto was ablaze with adrenaline. He couldn't stay down for long.

Fed up, Gaara thrust out an outstretched palm, sending a mass of sand in Naruto's direction, and grasped him around his torso. Naruto struggled furiously, cursing and shouting, and Gaara narrowed his eyes venomously before smashing the mass of sand into the ground, bringing Naruto along with it. He did this repeatedly, hammering Naruto into the ground again and again.

"Stop it!" Hinata cried weakly. Gaara ignored her. "P-Please stop!"

Gaara rose the sand mass high in the air and spiked Naruto's body at the ground. Hinata gave a terrified cry. She struggled to her feet and dove past Gaara just as he was sending second wave of sand at Naruto's motionless form. Hinata jumped into the air and slid right in front of him, acting as a shield. She crossed her arms over her face for minimal protection, but beyond the gap they provided Hinata could see Gaara's expression, bewildered and utterly shocked.

The sand hovered in the air for a second, responding to Gaara's hesitation, and just when Hinata was sure he wasn't going to follow through with the attack, his features twisted into a vicious snarl and he brought his hand down forcefully.

The sand mass responded, no longer aiming at Naruto, but at Hinata.

Hinata grit her teeth, squeezing her eyes, waiting for the impact, but it didn't happen.

A white flash appeared in front of Hinata, blocking the attack, and sent a tremendous blast of chakra into the air, purging the oncoming sand attack.

Gaara and Hinata reacted with shocked expressions.

Hinata, taking a moment to recover and process the scene before her, couldn't believe her eyes.

"N-N-Neji-niisan?"

Neji, Byakugan activated, put one foot forward and squared his shoulders, palms facing outward. It was an exact copy of Hinata's battle stance.

"Gaara of the Sand, I believe," he said with a subtle thrill. "A pleasure to finally meet you."

**//***********************************//note from moi//*************************************//**

**Ah, another cliffy, huh? Yeah, I know. I suck.**

**…lol.**

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to my awesome friend .roses who is a great inspiration to me, vice versa, and an awesome writer. You can check out her fanart for Little Mouse on her deviant art or her fanfictions themselves.**


	9. Answer

9

Answer

//------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

This was a number of things. This was amazing, unexpected, wonderful, and horrifying. Never did Hinata think her Neji-niisan would come to her rescue like this, but now that he has, in the worst of situations, she was nothing but regretful.

Gaara instantly forgot Hinata and Naruto, now only focused on Neji, and the bloodlust seeping into his eyes made Hinata's inside twist and churn. The only fear greater than facing her own death was that of facing the death of someone important to her.

Like her Neji-niisan.

Gaara was strong--too strong--and though Neji-niisan was the most powerful genin in the village, he was sorely no match for this murderous sand nin. If he died trying to protect her…

"And you are?" Gaara inquired, reverting back to his usual calm. He still hovered control over the sand, ready to attack at the swing of his hand, but he waited for Neji's reply.

"I am Hinata-sama's cousin and guardian. You are the person whom she's been having recent encounters with, correct? The cause of her injuries?"

"That's none of your business," Gaara stated lowly. "Do you intend to fight?"

"I do. I can no longer let your acts go unjustified. You have hurt Hinata-sama not once, but multiple times, and now you must pay the price."

Gaara smiled at this. It was unlike any smile Hinata had ever seen. It was dangerous, thrilling, and twisted. The joy this ninja found in killing was well expressed in this simple smile, making it possible to hear every homicidal thought pouring into his head.

_No, niisan_…Hinata protested inwardly. _Please don't do this. _

Gaara's smile widened to reveal teeth, and Neji gave an unaffected snort. "Prepare yourself!" he shouted, and launched forward.

Gaara was ready. He extended both arms, as he had never done in an attack with Hinata or Naruto, and swept them forward in a harmonic motion, bringing a single wave of sand to come hurdling in Neji's direction. Neji was swift, and so dodged it easily, but making contact with Gaara's body was not as simple. As Neji squared his right shoulder to let his palm fly, a wall hard sand shot up to protect Gaara, making body damage impossible, and as the wall shaped to form an assault of spikes, Neji jumped backwards to avoid the attack.

He circled Gaara swiftly, his image nothing but a white blur, but Hinata could see him clearly with her Byakugan. He looked frustrated, as if he were running out of ideas on how to work his way around Gaara's sand barrier, while at the same time trying to doge all of his attacks.

Hinata was scared for him. Neji didn't know how much danger he was putting himself in because of her. Gaara was going to kill him. As ninjas of the academy, they were not prepared to handle someone such as Gaara, and Hinata felt that if even one of the jonins were to challenge Gaara, he would give than a little more than a run for their money.

Neji struck several columns of sand that came rushing at him, but there were always more to be accounted for. Gaara moved his hands and arms with more energy than Hinata had ever seen him display, and she could tell by the devilish grin on his face that he was only playing with Neji, and enjoying it.

But Neji realized this too. Still, it was far too early to bring out his ultimate attack, nor was there any time to use it at the moment. Doing so would only have tired him out, and that was the last thing he needed right now.

It was only a matter of time before Gaara grew tired of playing around. But even playing around, Gaara was one to be taken seriously. A powerful wave of sand finally struck Neji in chest, slamming him into a tree, and Hinata stifled a cry.

Neji reacted quickly, turning to Hinata with serious and angry eyes. "What are you still doing here, Hinata-sama!" he yelled. "Take the boy and run!"

Hinata's heart lurched with fear. She took a swift glance at Naruto, then back to Neji who was already running in for another attack. Yes…yes, Neji could hold out on his own for a while, she was certain of it, but in the meantime Naruto--

"H-Hinata-chan…" a voice croaked from strain. Immediately Hinata looked down and saw Naruto struggling to rise his head. Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed with fear. "Naruto-kun, no! P-Please, you mustn't move. You're injuries are too great for you to--"

"You have to get out of here, Hinata," Naruto said, jerking his body forward so that he fell on his knees. "You have to get out of here and get to safety. I don't know what that weirdo wants with you Hinata, but the most important thing now is for you to save yourself and get help."

Hinata tried to contain the tears behind her eyes, but already her vision was becoming blurred with the heat from them. Slowly her Byakugan deactivated, and she was left staring at a perfectly clear and colorful Naruto with blue and purple bruises whom possessed an unwavering expression of determination and protectiveness.

"Naruto-kun, please…" Hinata whispered to him. "You're not supposed to die today. Only me…"

Naruto looked at her in alarm, forgetting Gaara for a split moment, and stared directly into her eyes with shock.

"Naruto, you shouldn't have to fight like this--not now--won't you please come with me? We can get help together; you're in no condition to be fighting. Neji-niisan--"

"Sorry, Hinata-chan, no can do. I don't know what's going on here, but I can't just run away. I'll help your cousin hold that Gaara off until someone comes. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Without waiting for her to respond, Naruto rushed off. "Shadow clones!" he shouted, and three facsimiles of himself burst out of a cloud of white smoke.

"Don't interfere!" Neji, who was shooting blasts of chakra at attacking columns of sand, yelled furiously at him. "You'll only get in the way!"

"Spare me!" Naruto shouted back at him.

Hinata sat still, unable to move. She wanted to go for help dearly, but she was too afraid that if she left for any amount of time, one of them would become seriously hurt, or worse. Not to mention fatigue kept her body from responding correctly to the movements she needed to rise. Naruto was hurt badly, and it showed in his movements. Sooner than later he would collapse. Hinata herself was no better off. It was hard for her to move at all, in fact, but she knew she had to do something. But what?

Neji and Naruto did not work well together. Not only did they not know each other, but they knew nothing of each others fighting techniques and skill level. Naruto would have had a better idea of Neji's since his fighting style matched Hinata's, but this was her niisan's first time ever meeting Naruto.

If you would even call this a meeting.

Naruto was slow, and the production of his clones were few and far between. He was losing energy, and quickly, but still he forced himself to keep fighting. Neji was trying his best to counter and dodge all of Gaara's attacks, while at the same time trying to inflict some sort of surface wound on his body. This seemed more impossible by the second, for Gaara was not tiring at all, and how could he? The most difficult part for him would be chakra control over his sand, and it appeared as if he had mastered that years ago.

Not only that, but the sand seemed to…react on it's own, exactly as if it were alive. As Gaara was preoccupied with Neji, Naruto would come from behind him with two of his shadow clones, kunais in hand, and try to attack him from the back, but a wall of sand would shoot up to block the attack at every attempt, giving Gaara enough time to break his concentration for a split second to lash out at Naruto with an explosion of sand.

After his third attempt, Naruto wound up on the ground, crouched over and coughing up specs of blood. Neji had yelled for him to get away, but Naruto just wouldn't listen. Hinata was sickened with terror. Naruto had just about reached his limit, and Neji was quickly nearing his.

He looked tired and his hair had become loose and disoriented. The curse mark on his forehead had become completely visible by this point, and Hinata cringed at the sight of it. Normally Neji would have adjusted his headband to cover it, but Gaara didn't give him any time at all. Hinata could see by the change in his expression he'd become serious.

_Oh no…_Hinata whimpered inwardly. Naruto-kun…he'd kill Naruto. And Neji-niisan…

Gaara sent an alarming number of sand waves in Neji's direction, and he stopped in dead motion to pivot his heels, throwing his body into a violently swift spinning motion, producing a giant blue dome of chakra. "Rotation!" Neji yelled with power, deflecting all of Gaara's sand attacks. The sand waves cam hurdling down on Neji like bombs, exploding apart the second they made impact with his rotating chakra barrier. He kept the barrier going longer than Hinata ever thought possible, and beneath the fear and terror she felt for the consequences of this action, she was immensely awe-struck and proud. Proud of her big brother Neji.

But the barrier could only last for so long. After the last sand wave Neji dismissed his rotation. It was a nice clean break, but the second afterward he fell to one knee, panting and gasping. "Niisan…" Hinata whispered with fright.

Hinata's attention on her cousin broke when a sharp psychotic laughter erupted into the air. She turned quickly to see Gaara, chin jetting towards the sky, exploding with this twisted laugh. He lowered his head and stared at Neji with mocking eyes. "Strong!" he bellowed with a wicked smile. "Very strong!"

The sand regenerating on the ground began melting together, combining into one single mass, and rose into the air upon Gaara's command.

And suddenly Gaara winced, bending over with pain, and gripped his forehead tightly. Hinata flinched when she saw this, reacting to a tiny prick in her chest at the sight of it, and she had absolutely no idea why. It must have been the confusion of the situation, the chaos in atmosphere…

All three of them, Naruto included, watched as Gaara began muttering something under his breath, sputtering whimpers and apologies, addressing someone who wasn't there. He slid his hand to his hair line and gripped a fist full of red locks, pulling them between clenched fingers. What was going on?

"Sorry…" he whispered in a manner that resembled a childish beg. "I'm sorry, mother…"

_Mother? _They all thought simultaneously.

"I'll get it for you…his blood, I'll get it for you…I'm sorry for wasting so much time…"

What he was saying made no sense, yet it caused a violently sympathetic churn in Hinata's stomach. The way he whimpered this…it was almost as if he were a young child, backed into a corner, confused and threatened…and scared.

But what made him think of his mother?

Gaara rose his head, eyes still squinting from pain, and bore his eyes into Neji's. "I'm tired of playing with you," he stated with finality. There was no twisted joy in his expression now. Now there was nothing but murder and death. "It's time to end this. Now die."

The sand mass churning in the air behind Gaara shaped slowly into a pointed dagger, spinning like a drill, creeping forward with an anticipation of it's own.

Gaara swing is hand in a forwarding motion and the sand responded, shooting towards Neji with incomprehensible speed.

Neji was as prepared as he could have been. Slowly he'd been building chakra into the length of his arms and the tips of his fingers. He pivoted his heels once more and spun. "Rotation!" he cried once more.

The chakra barrier was bigger this time. It rotated, gaining more and more speed, but the sand was persistent. It hit the barrier, exploded, then regenerated again, ready for another strike. This happened again and again until Neji finally gave out and the jutsu dispersed. He fell to one knee, gasping furiously, and gazed in horror as the sand condensed together again to form the shape of a drill, and rushed at him at the speeds of a viper.

"No!" Hinata screamed.

Neji didn't have time to dodge. The drill dug into his stomach with fury, giving one sharp spin, and Neji cried out in agony. The impact of the spin jerked Neji's body away, sending him back a few feet and crashing into the thick trunk of a tree. He crumpled to the ground, limbs unmoving, with his hair followed his image, falling around his head as it reached the ground and concealing his face.

"Niisan!" Hinata cried as loud as she ever had.

"Hinata, run!" she heard Naruto yell. "Get out of here!"

Gaara turned on him and with a swift sand attack, sent him jetting into a thorny bush beyond a number of trees.

He didn't move.

"Naruto-kun…!" Hinata whimpered in a half-sob. She looked at Gaara with fear and anger. "Why?" she demanded, her voice shaking unsteadily. "Why are you killing them? Exactly what merit does their death serve for you?"

The sand around Gaara settled a fraction, swirling around his legs and just above his head. He began making his way toward her.

Hinata shrank back, then stopped. _No…_she thought resolutely. _I am to die today anyway. _"Tell me why you would do this?" Hinata continued, gaining control over her voice. Gaara stared at her, still advancing with slow and casual steps.

When you've accepted death, there is little to be afraid of anymore. Hinata persisted.

"Why!" she shouted.

Gaara came to a stop in front of her and knelt down. He looked into her eyes for a half a second, taking in her surprisingly fearless yet tear-stained expression, then took his hand and shaped it around her thin neck, slamming her backwards into the ground.

"Well?" he asked expectantly.

Hinata grit her teeth, gripping the hand which clutched at her throat.

"Do you have an answer?"

Hinata squinted from the pain. The pain in her body, the pain at her throat, and the pain in her chest.

"Tell me why," he continued. "Tell me why you exist."

Hinata opened her mouth to try and speak, but Gaara's hold prevented her. He loosened his grip slightly, just enough to allow air flow, and Hinata let out a choking breath.

"That…isn't rally the question you want to ask…is it?" she said through a number of strained breaths.

Gaara narrowed his eyes, flexing the muscles in his hand. His eyes were murderous, but uncomprehending.

"The question…you're really asking…is 'why do _I _exist'…"

Gaara opened his eyes with anger and surprise. "I…don't have an answer for that, Gaara…because I can't. No one can answer that question but _you_. If that wasn't the case, it would defeat our purpose for living."

In the back of her mind Hinata could hear Naruto's voice.

"_Well, what I mean to say is, I wouldn't spend all those days feeling sad."…._

"_I might wind up losing, but at least I would give him the fight of his life!"…_

"_My point is, Hinata-chan, that we don't know how long we'll live. I'm training everyday so that one day I can become strong!"…_

"_I'm going to try my best and keep working no matter what happens!"_

And a voice from so long ago, angry and fierce, darkened with despair, sounding distorted and strange in the voice of a wounded child. Neji's.

"_All of our destinies are predetermined. It is useless trying to defy your fate. Pointless…"_

"_Pointless."_

"Not pointless…" Hinata choked. "_Not_ pointless."

Gaara looked at her in slight confusion, but with unwavering attentiveness, waiting for her next words.

"For a long time…I suffered because I did not know who I was. I did not know what I was good for, or if my existence mattered at all to anyone. No one needed me. No one wanted me. Not even my own father."

Gaara's hand flinched as a reflex of surprise, tightening around her neck. Hinata gasped in pain, but Gaara loosened his hold once more to let her speak.

Hinata looked into his eyes.

Such eyes…

"I thought I was completely alone…thought that I was the only one who'd ever suffered like that," she continued with a softer expression. "But that wasn't true…not true at all. Naruto…"

Her eyes drifted behind Gaara to the spot where Naruto lay. She couldn't see him from where she was, pinned to the ground; only a flash of orange where his jacket was peaking through the leaves of the bush.

"I'd found Naruto…and realized that the pain I had suffered was _nothing_. He grew up completely and utterly alone--literally all alone. No parents, no siblings, no friends, no one. But he…he still…everyday, he smiled. He never stopped trying to make friends, he never stopped trying to become someone greater than what he was. Because he believed he could become something better than what everyone thought of him."

"I…" she pressed on, with a soothing emotion seeping into her half-strangled voice. "I loved that. I wanted that. Because I wasn't that. Naruto works hard every day to shape his own existence because he knows that he can."

"It is not a matter of finding your existence…but shaping it as you live."

"And I live…because I love Naruto."

The side of Gaara's mouth twitched at the side. He stared at Hinata with an expression she'd never seen before, and after a minute or so of this, loosened his grip and stood to his feet.

"Is that so?" he said quietly--thoughtfully--and turned away.

"W-Wait!" Hinata called, rolling to her side. She propped herself up on her elbows and stared after him. "I thought you were going to kill me?"

Gaara stopped. His form was perfectly erect and still. He turned over his shoulder to look at her with his mouth compressed in a straight line, and his eyes, once again, betraying nothing.

"I said that if you didn't give me an answer at the end of three days I would kill you. And you have given me one."

He turned ahead of him now with the intention of walking away, but Hinata stumbled forward onto her knees and said, "D-Does that mean you won't--"

"I am still going to kill you," Gaara stated with certainty.

Hinata drew her eyebrows together, wrinkling her forehead with dread.

"But…" he continued slowly, "not in the way which requires blood from you. I will kill you another way. If it is love which sustains you…which defines your existence…than I will break that love."

**//*********************************//Author's Note//***************************************//**

**Speaking as the author of this story, I'd have to say that this is my favorite chapter so far. The emotions presented here where so much fun to write, even though it took me longer than usual, but I loved how it turned out. Worth the struggle.**

**Now that Hinata's third day is up and she is still alive, it remains a mystery as to what Gaara will do in the future. **

**Please stay with me to find the answer.**

**I absolutely love everything it is you have to say, even if it's negative, so you're reviews are always well anticipated and anxiously read.**

**Please keep supporting me no matter what.**


	10. Tough Break

Tough Break

10

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Hinata didn't even want to think about her father's reaction when he found out about the incident with Gaara. All three of them, Neji, Hinata, and Naruto, were in the hospital, two unconscious, and one a conscious wreck. Hinata occupied a room of her own while Neji and Naruto shared the room adjacent to hers. Hinata's ribs had been patched up and her scrapes and cuts dressed. She had needed only a day and a half to recover the chakra lost, but Neji and Naruto would need at least another day or two before fully recovering themselves.

The chunin exams were very close and there were absolutely no excuses for backing out, even an almost successful murder attempt. Neji and Hinata would be required to enroll even if they were half-dying, but Naruto could probably get out of it if he wanted to. However, Hinata knew for a fact that he would never do such a thing. If Naruto was conscious to protest his prolonged hospitalization that's exactly what he would do.

It was in Hinata's nature to worry, so when the nurses reassured her that the two would be okay, she only half-listened. Neji had a serious wound just below his ribs while Naruto's body was bruised from head to toe. Hinata had gotten away fresh as a daisy compared to the two of them, but it only raised her suspicion more about Gaara's motives for killing her.

His words echoed in her ears like a high-pitched ring, making Hinata squint at the memory. Exactly how…would he break her love for Naruto? That's what he had meant, wasn't it? Hinata couldn't imagine how he would do it, but wasn't the most obvious solution to…break Naruto himself? Well, Gaara had pretty much done that, but he didn't kill him. Truly if he had it would have destroyed Hinata…but…then again, that wouldn't have broken her love.

Gaara must have known that. Death doesn't break love…it merely blooms hatred in addition to love. If anything death multiplied love, and Gaara did not want that to happen. If he was going to break the love Hinata held for Naruto, he would have to do it some other way, but what other way could there possibly be?

Hinata feared the answer.

As for Gaara himself, Hinata did not know what had befallen him since yesterday's encounter. Surely the Hokage had heard about the incident as well as the Kazekage, so the question of Gaara's punishment was still a matter to be decided. That is…if they hadn't decided it already.

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

His siblings stayed as far away from him as possible, located on the other side of the room under a more luminous area and as close to the door as possible…just in case. Gaara stood upright, gazing out the window while completely ignoring them both. The cowering fools. They may have felt more comfortable with their sensei there, as he always was, but unfortunately Baki was off doing damage control. That little uncalled for stunt Gaara pulled yesterday had gotten all of them in trouble, putting everything they were doing completely and recklessly at risk, and yet he couldn't care less.

It was definitely a relief to the rest of them that Gaara had not killed anybody this time, but the possibility of him being banned from the chunin exams was still very real. Baki would do all in his power to make sure that didn't happen, but it was a long shot. Gaara was certain it both irritated and enraged Baki that he couldn't even yell at Gaara for what he'd done, since he, like the rest of his Godforsaken village, was scared shitless of him. One glare and Baki would retreat back into a corner, trembling and mumbling excuses along with his useless siblings.

However, the fact still remained true that a lot would have to be made up for this. It would without a doubt be a problem if Gaara _was_ banned from the chunin exams, but the red headed sand nin figured Baki would handle it to the best of his ability. Like all other matters of which his father staked high efforts on, Gaara didn't give a damn, but…there were things he wanted to do in the chunin exams.

Though that girl…that little mouse…had claimed a generous portion of his time and attention, the desire to extract the blood of many a strong opponents still lingered in the center of his heart. The ones Sasuke and Neji….though Neji had been easy enough to defeat this time around, it was anyone's guess as to how much he would improve in the future, and the Uchiha…Yes. He would make a very fine opponent.

"What were you thinking, Gaara?" Kankuro demanded, breaking through Gaara's concentration. His older brother rather bravely approached Gaara with a somewhat nervous look and a sweat bead hovering on his forehead. He came to a purposely distant stop in front of his little brother and Gaara stared at him with an expectant look which leaked blatant irritation.

"You attacked two Konoha ninjas with absolutely no supportive reasons and put them in the hospital! Not to mention they'll be competing in the upcoming chunin exams, so that means the higher ups will automatically assume you were trying to cheat by eliminating the competition early! How do you explain something like this? You put everything we're doing in jeop--"

"Shut up," Gaara seethed with venom. "I already know all of this. Do you think I'm stupid?"

Kankuro grit his teeth and coiled his hands. He took a step back, making an unsuccessfully concealed gulping noise in his throat, and said, "Exactly what was your reason for--"

"My reasons were my own and none of your business," Gaara responded in a low and raspy voice. "Or…perhaps you would like to take action behind your demands and fight me?"

"Now hold on," Temari interjected. She came to stand beside Kankuro who'd widened his eyes in a response to obvious fear at his brother's threat, and confronted Gaara seeming more than obviously reluctant. "Fighting will only make things worse and you know it. It's no use arguing over what's already happened. It's best if we just wait for Baki to come back with more information about what's going on."

As if on cue the door cracked open and out emerged a very exhausted and exasperated Baki. Temari and Kankuro turned to him abruptly, Kankuro looking a little more relieved than his sister. "Baki-sensei!" Temari exclaimed. "What did they say?"

Baki scanned right over her and placed his eyes upon Gaara who was staring at him expectantly as well. There were words swimming behind Baki's eyes, angry and scolding words, but what he said was, "It seems Gaara has not been banned from the exams after all."

Temari and Kankuro reacted with genuinely relieved expressions, but Gaara turned away from them to stare out the window. Once he heard what he wanted to hear there was no reason to keep lending his so very limited patience. The reasons behind the conclusions were of absolutely no concern to him, including the repercussions, and as long as he was able to compete in the chunin exams nothing else mattered.

"At first they were going in that direction," Baki continued, leaning comfortably against the wall, "but since the exams haven't actually _begun_ yet, it wasn't exactly necessary to exclude him from them. It's only illegal to attack participants after the exams have already been set in motion. However, the head of the Hyuga clan was--or _is_--extremely angered over this, not to mention the Hokage himself wasn't too pleased. Gaara almost got us kicked out of the village, but fortunately Lords and Nobles from all over the countries are heavily anticipating Gaara's participation in the exams and are riding high on outrageous bets with one another. Talk of the Uchiha's enrollment in the exams has spread like wild fire and many are hoping that he and Gaara will _both_ be progressing though the test. Were Gaara to be dropped now it would ignite too much heat."

"Well I guess we lucked out," Kankuro commented. "You hear that Gaara? You were lucky."

"_We_ were lucky," Temari responded quickly. "This effected all of us. Don't forget that." She leaned in closer to Kankuro's ear and whispered seriously, "We were supposed to be keeping an eye on him. Don't forget that that's the main reason we were assigned to take the exams and not some other nins."

Kankuro dropped his eyes toward the floor and let out a quiet, "Hmph!"

"What about the hospitalized participants?" Temari asked Baki.

Gaara turned from the window and directed his attention at his sensei, looking at him from the side of his eyes.

"It remains to be seen as to whether or not they'll be able to continue as planned in taking the exams. If they don't recover in time they won't be able to make it."

Gaara turned his whole form toward Baki, clearly offering all of his attention now.

"But there are only three days left," Temari noted. "Are their injuries really so serious?"

"Yes," Baki said. "Two of them need an exponential amount of recovery time and right now it looks as if they won't be able to participate."

"And the other one?" Gaara demanded unexpectedly.

All three looked at him in surprise, wondering why in the hell he would even bother asking of the condition of someone he intended to kill.

Baki, taking a moment to collect himself, said, "I…I'm pretty sure the damage they sustained isn't nearly as severe as the other two, but…I think he'll still be able to compete."

"You mean 'she'," Gaara corrected. This earned him more bewildered looks. Baki hadn't really bothered to take note of the gender of the victims since it was irrelevant, but if he remembered correctly a Hyuga girl had been hospitalized as well. The Hyuga heir, in fact.

"Gaara…did you purposely target those children?"

Baki hadn't thoroughly considered that. Gaara was well known for killing miscellaneous people on a whim, especially those with exceptional skill, but never had Baki thought Gaara would intentionally seek someone out for the purpose of ending their lives. Normally he just killed them as they came.

Gaara glared at him, making Baki and the other cringe back, then turned to stare out into the sky once more.

"No."

***-*-*-*-*-*-***

No one came to visit. Not her father, not her sister, and certainly not her cousin who lay unconscious in the next room. Only the Hokage and a few of his guards came, but only to question Hinata about what had happened. Hinata was very surprised at what she felt when being asked such things. For some reason there was massive confliction in her chest; unsettling and disturbing emotions whirring confusedly together as well as that of guilt. Though she had remembered very clearly what had happened and the time limit Gaara had given her days before, all she could tell them was…"I can't remember."

Of course they pressed for more details, urging her to remember something of value, but all she could say was, "I'm sorry, but…I just don't remember."

Eventually they had to give up and leave it at that. Before the Hokage departed he gave Hinata two gentle pats on the shoulder saying that Gaara would not harm her again since they would be keeping a closer watch on him than ever.

What he had not said, Hinata noticed, was that Gaara wasn't exactly _in _trouble, meaning he was still going to participate in the chunin exams.

Tough Break.

Hinata relaxed into her pillow, staring out the wide open window which revealed the shining sun peeking over the trees. The day was well into the afternoon and yet the sun was still high in the sky. A good sign.

Hinata didn't know what would become of Gaara because of his actions, but…whatever the outcome, she was certain it wasn't extreme. At least not for him. To think that something or someone would be able to hurt Gaara…a very hard thing to imagine.

A shuffling of feet sounded outside in the hallway and for a moment Hinata's heart swelled with the hope that maybe her father had come to see her after all, but a slender figure followed by a thick trail of pink hair smashed those hopes as quickly as they'd come. Ah…it was only Naruto's teammates coming to visit him.

Hinata heard the sliding door to Naruto and Neji's room open, along with a separate set of footsteps advancing casually past her door. It was Sasuke. He too had come to visit Naruto, and before passing Hinata's room completely, caught a side glance of her and stopped. Hinata raised her head in surprise as he came in, very unexpectedly if she were to add, and closed the sliding door behind him which the Hokage had left open.

"Hey," he greeted blandly.

"U-Um…H-Hello, Uchiha-san," Hinata greeted in response. _This_ was certainly a surprise. Never had Sasuke and Hinata exchanged even a word together, and yet here he was waltzing right into her room completely without warning. The only interaction they ever had together was being in the same room, and if Hinata was being perfectly honest, she wasn't even sure if he knew her name.

Sasuke pulled a chair from beside the window and set it beside Hinata's bedside. He took his seat casually, crossing his arms over his chest, and said, "So I heard you were attacked too. By that weird Sand Ninja."

Hinata, too shocked to form words, only nodded in response.

"What do you know about it?"

Ah, another interrogation was it? Hinata, surprisingly enough, was much more comfortable with this than an ordinary get-well visit which she embarrassingly assumed this was at first.

"I…I don't really know a whole lot," Hinata answered.

"Is that right?" Sasuke replied, leaning back in his chair. He looked away from her and scanned the open window where a cool breeze played with the curtains. "Naruto and that other Ninja, Neji I think his name is--he looks just like you--are hurt pretty bad. Yet you're the first one awake, seemingly void of such extreme injuries. Why is that?" He looked at her again, boring into her eyes, and Hinata drew back into her pillow, pressing against her headboard.

"I…well, that is…I am not as fierce as an opponent as they, s-so…there was no need to inflict so much damage on me."

Sasuke stared at her for a moment, then nodded his head quietly to himself, instantly believing her. "I see…" he said. "And Sabaku Gaara…did you talk to him?"

"Wh-Why do you want to know that?" Hinata asked.

"I met him once. My team and I," he said.

Hinata blinked in surprise. So she had been right.

"His stupid teammate was picking on some kid Naruto knows and we had to interject. That spook came in afterwards, threatening to kill the guy, which is surprising since he's part of his own team, and introduced himself as Gaara of the Sand. He's very dangerous."

Sasuke stopped, looking into Hinata's eyes for conformation, and she nodded right away. "Yes…he is."

"Just as I thought. Of course there was no real way for me to tell if he was someone to be taken seriously, but…it's just the aura he gives off." It seemed now as if Sasuke was talking more to himself than to Hinata, staring hard at his hands which now lay folded across his lap. "It's the look in his eyes…" Sasuke continued, clenching them together. "I want to know…" He glanced up at Hinata with those dark and chilling eyes…"exactly how dangerous he really is."

Hinata widened her eyes at Sasuke's words; so subtle and yet so demanding. Hinata faltered for a second, completely at a loss as to how to explain the magnitude of power possessed by the opponent in question, and all she could come up with was, "_Very_."

No term explained it better.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes into focus, hanging on her words tightly, and said with a dark smile, "Good."

He stood from his seat, pushing it back to it's original location, and made his way to the door. Hinata watched him slide it open and shove his hands into his pockets on the way out.

"Get better quickly," he told her in farewell. "I expect to see you at the exams."

**//***********************************//A/N//************************************//**

**Normally I would use a word other than "spook" to describe Gaara, especially when spoken through Sasuke's mouth…but…that's really what he calls him in volume 4 of the actual Naruto manga. I claim no responsibility for the term's corniness.**

**And if anyone wants to see some fanart for my fics, check out my profile page! The links are posted right on it! They're all freakin awesome!**


	11. Alike

Alike

11

//--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------//

Gaara sat in his testing area, arms crossed and back erect. That moronic blond haired ninja, shouting insults and threats, pointing fingers, and acting an utter fool, was making an impressive ass of himself. It surprised Gaara greatly, how much energy the stupid kid had after almost dying a few days ago, and it unnerved him. Either this child had monstrously swift recovering abilities or Gaara had not inflicted as much damage as he had thought. No…it must be the recovering abilities.

The other one, the Hyuga, was in his own seat, trying to ignore the embarrassing scene going on before him with a twitch of his eyebrow. Gaara noticed that this ninja, Hyuga Neji, was in far worse shape than Naruto. Nearly every inch of him was bandaged, his posture slightly drawn over in a sloppy imitation of the erect Hyuga pose, and he looked worn enough to the point where he could fall asleep right there at the desk with little effort. What the hell was he thinking, coming to the exams in such a state? Ah, but then again, had he not come his teammates wouldn't have been allowed entry into the exams. How absurd that the whole team's efforts could be so easily shot down because of one weakling.

Neji wasn't weak to be sure, but he wasn't anywhere as near as strong as Gaara, especially in his current state, and the thought made him smirk inwardly.

And the other one, the girl…she was there too, planted in a seat a few rows down from her cousin where he sat glaring at her back from the top of the classroom. She was stiff, trembling with nervousness, staring at the dumb blond digging his own grave from the front of the room. His teammates, Sasuke Uchiha and some other girl, looked peeved and exasperated. The Uchiha looked more pissed than anything, and wound up ignoring Naruto after some point, unable to take anymore nonsense.

Hinata twiddled her fingers over her lap, completely unaware of the watchful eyes of her cousin and the penetrating ones of Gaara, and he found himself snorting lightly through his nostrils. Hyuga Neji turned then to look directly at Gaara, a look which he returned with boredom, and turned away with an angry wrinkle of his forehead. Gaara wanted to smirk.

He was sure the Hyuga wanted no other opportunity than to wring Gaara's neck with his bandaged fingers. His hatred was practically melting off of him, and it pleased Gaara very much that he reacted this way. Just his presence stiffened the Hyuga's shoulder with fury, and if he could, Gaara would have gladly exploited that fury. Truly this written test they'd incorporated into the exams was an utter waste of his time.

When the papers were passed out, Gaara stared at his with a glare. He hardly took the time to read each question carefully, for they were heavily worded and overly detailed, intricate in sentence structure and unnecessarily long. It was almost impossible to pinpoint the run-on sentences, if there were any, since each sentence seemed to extend the length of an entire paragraph. From what he read, Gaara concluded that these questions must have purposely been designed to stump the test takers, to drive them mad with frustration, thus stripping them of every other option except that of cheating.

Interesting…it seemed as if this test was more worthwhile than he'd thought. The answers hardly mattered at all, but instead the method used in attaining them. There were nin stationed all over the classroom, keeping close watch on those glaring down at their own papers, raking their fingers through their hair in exasperation and eyeing their competitors from across the room. They smirked.

Cheating wasn't only legal, it seemed, but highly encouraged. The only illegal thing about this test, apparently, was getting caught.

Attaining answers was easy enough for Gaara. His third eye proved to be a more than effective method for stealing answers, and within a matter of minutes, every question was answered in full. Gaara hardly took the time to review his work, as long as he wasn't caught cheating the written words hardly mattered. Instead he watched and waited for the others to finish…or rather, get caught.

All throughout the test students were being tossed out of class, sometimes forcefully, sometimes mumbling curses, but either way it was entertaining. During some point Gaara had looked down at Hinata, who by this point, was already finished. Surely her Byakugan proved just as useful as his third eye, as did Neji's, but he blond next to her seemed to be falling apart at the scenes. It was fun to watch.

It was only when the timid Hyuga pushed her answers toward him from under arm that things became less amusing. Stupid girl; what was she thinking? Was she truly intending to aid her enemy? Allowing her trivial affections to interfere with duty…what kind of ninja was she? It heavily annoyed Gaara that Hinata would act this way--so careless and so willing. Did she even want to win these exams? Wretchedly stupid woman.

It was surprising still, however, that even though she was being so stupid, Naruto continued to prove to be even stupider. He refused the answer sheet, giving Hinata a grateful smile to which she returned with a blush, and the back of Gaara's teeth locked together. He'd chosen to fail with honesty. Truly if all his competitors were going to be as weak-hearted as these two, than winning wouldn't be an issue.

It was disheartening though, that even in the end the Hyuga and the blond had not been caught, and so intended to move on to the next level of the chunin exams. Gaara and his siblings had passed without one red flag, and so quickly moved on with the others toward the court yard on the outskirts of the forest where the next exam would undoubtedly take place. Gaara knew before it was even explained that this would be a test of survival.

But it was more than a test of survival. Each team gets a scroll, one of two kinds, and the object of the game is to wind up at the end of the set course with both kinds of scrolls by the end of three days.

Could this be any more simpler? The written test sounded like more of a challenge. This just sounded like…well, like _fun_. Temari and Kankuro, looking quite unhappy, turned toward Gaara to access his mood only to find he was quite within control and even bored to an extent. They knew that when he was excited things got out of hand, but for such an event like this where he would know the outcome, there was nothing to be excited over.

Gaara paid as little attention to Anko as possible, since all he needed to know were the basics, and once she stopped for the scroll distribution, Gaara was off on his own again. He was very aware of Temari and Kankuro keeping close watch, but he ignored them as usual. Upon his wanderings he stumbled upon that girl, the Hyuga, who was, at present, by herself looking over the guidelines and regulations for the upcoming survival exam, though there was hardly much to it other than to stay alive.

Gaara stood a far distance off, crossing his arms over his chest and examining her from afar. She was leaning against a tree, eyebrows drawn together, looking over the paper nervously, seemingly thinking hard about something and accessing her worries. Gaara knew she would have a tougher time than usual completing this already difficult task because of the wounds inflicted on her--by him no less--and by the looks of things Gaara doubted her teammates would be of much use when trying to pull her weight. Hell, Gaara doubted they could even pull their own weight with how weak they looked.

Hinata herself was not as weak as one might assume, and even though she was injured to an extent, Gaara thought that, to any ordinary ninja, she would prove a hassle to deal with, even with her current handicap. But in any case, she was in no condition for intense battling. Even so, this test wasn't about that. It was about slick maneuvering, stealth, trap setting, and discovering your enemies tricks and weaknesses.

Gaara watched Hinata intensely, more so than he was aware of, and stared at the worry wrinkles in her forehead, the natural paleness of her skin, and the slight twitch in her fingertips as she held the paper in her hands. Whenever she seemed anxious or nervous her fingers would react in such a way.

Gaara also noticed how she, much like himself, was prone to distancing herself from the crowd, dispatching from others like a bird from a frock, and immersing herself in her own solitude, a place where she undoubtedly found the most comfort. Gaara himself hated to be around people in general. His hate for humanity had since been blown out of proportion, escaladed to volcanic heights, enough to a point to where he could explode, sweeping them up in a torrent of anger and power, eradicating them from the face of the planet, and enjoy the after-echo of their screams in his mind.

Gaara wondered how this meek little mouse, this girl named Hinata, would react if he were to erupt in a such a manner…

Would she be like everyone else and run? Would she face her fears and fight him? Gaara doubted she would, but then again, he doubted she wouldn't either. From what Gaara had been able to observe thus far, the Hyuga girl was dutiful and determined despite always clashing with her own weaknesses, and could also be fierce on occasions where need be. She herself, who had refused so honorably to give up her life, had taken battle stance against him, rose her hands firmly in the air, and bravely stood her ground against his sand.

Though she lacked spine, Gaara found Hinata had more heart than a surprising amount of others he'd encountered, and all men. Weak assassins they were, hired by his father to kill him, and some, when faced with the absolute certainty of their death, would try to flee; an act which always proved to be ineffectual.

Perhaps one day, sometime in her adulthood, this girl would be a forced to be reckoned with. And maybe if all went well their paths would cross somewhere down the road after these exams were over and he'd get to test her limits.

This thought excited him.

A glaring flash of blond penetrated Gaara's thoughts and he looked a little distance aways from Hinata to see Naruto unconsciously approaching while staring at a form of his own. The second he drew attention to Hinata she glanced up, surprise clear on her face, and turned away from him with a blushing fluster.

This annoyed Gaara. She, someone who'd bravely take up arms against the terror that was Gaara of the Sand, would so easily make herself look a fool in front of someone as insignificant as this. His cheek was bandaged and on the opposite side, cut from a stupid mishap earlier. Gaara was certain that under the thickness of his orange jacket there were layers of bandages and gauze, dried with his blood and dyed with antibiotics, yet he could still so easily express a dismissive façade as if mocking Gaara's attempts to murder him not too long ago.

In fact, it was infuriating.

It was even worse for Gaara since he could not hear what they were saying, but when Hinata erected her spine, suddenly stiff with worry, and fished out a small container of what Gaara imagined to be medicine for the boys cut, he figured she might just have been offering him some form of kindness. Gaara did not know why she was kinder to this boy than any other person, but it irritated Gaara. There was no reason for her thoughtfulness toward someone so dense.

Gaara's opinion of the boy was confirmed when he waved a dismissive hand at her, bidding her farewell, and leaving her offer hanging in the air.

Stupid idiotic moron of a shinobi.

Hinata, after realizing shortly he had walked away without taking so much as a glance at her offering, stared down sadly at the object in her hands. There was a clear mix of disappointment and hope in their was well, indicating that perhaps she thought he might need it again at some other time and she, being there at right moment, would be able to offer to him once more. How stupid was this girl? Was she just as stupid, if not stupider, than the blond?

Naruto, who seemed just as lonely as he in some ways, was very unlike Gaara. Yes, his loneliness was apparent, but sometimes it was hard to indicate with his smiling faces and his moronic grins. The presence of his teammates was always an occurring thing, and when around the two of him, he would smile even more. Sometimes they seemed to ignore him, even scold and threaten him, but they were there for him too.

Temari and Kankuro were different.

No, they never yelled at Gaara, threatened him--who would dare--or lecture him, but they did ignore him when it was possible. They made excuses for him all the time--Gaara could be carelessly violent on occasion--gave him his space without being told to, and watched over him exactly as if they were watching over a bomb.

That was not friendship or love, but simply _fear_. Gaara enjoyed the frightened expressions of others, but from his brother and sister it was different. It got old fast. Sometimes he wished they would show a bit more backbone and challenge him, take up defense, and though Kankuro had come close on few occasions, they never got close enough to Gaara to where it seemed necessary.

They hated him. It's far too easy to hate something you feared, and they feared Gaara more than they feared anything on this planet, even their father.

Gaara had never seen Hinata's father, but from what he heard about him, Gaara got the impression that he cared for his children just as much as his father did his own, if not a fraction more, but that was saying next to nothing. Gaara's father hated him as if her were a plague, but that's what Gaara was to the village. A plague, one to be wished away but too powerful to be rid of.

Hinata was in no way shape or form involved in a situation that was at all similar to his, but Gaara knew the burden placed on her shoulders. Her father's anger at her sudden hospitalization was undoubtedly the result of some bruised Hyuga pride and nothing else. Gaara didn't know how much pride his father, one who does not think twice about ridding the lives of his own family, his mother included, possessed, Gaara could relate to the feeling of abandonment.

Gaara himself would rather toss the feeling in with hatred, making it nearly impossible to locate, but it was always there, a separate entity in itself, and one that always dislocated from the jumbled emotions Gaara had intertwined together in his black heart.

Anko called to the shinobi around the field when the scrolls were done being passed out, and Hinata's head snapped up. She pushed the small brown container back inside her jacket pocket and took a step foreword toward the assembly, but in one chill of her spine, spun toward Gaara's direction to find him staring at her.

Though she looked surprised, at the same time, she didn't seem surprised at all. She did look scared to some degree, but not as much as she would have been weeks ago. Gaara found this interesting. Did she think that because he had already struck he would not do so again?

Either way the girl did not flinch back or turn her head, but instead glanced at him with thoughtful eyes. She drew her eyebrows together, folding her fingers together tightly, and her mouth moved slightly as if she was deciding on what to say, or rather, if she should say it or not.

"Stay away from Naruto-kun," she said in a voice just loud enough to extend the distance between them, then hurried away.

Gaara, glaring at her retreating back, felt something spark in his chest.

What was this? Immediate, heated, and electrifying, and yet…not anger.

Before Gaara knew it the corner of his mouth was curling up into a wicked grin, one of which bared a section of white, fang-like teeth, and he found himself grinning.

This test would undoubtedly be his most favorite yet**.**

**//********************************//A/N//*******************************//**

**Hey guys. Just posting this to let you know I'm still alive. I would be posting more frequently but I been busy as HELL. But I haven't forgotten about you. See you soon! :P**


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